The Power of Purpose: Living Life Deliberately and with Intention

As I look back over the past 25 years, there is one moment that has never left me. 

We were in a season of transition and was moving P3 to a new city after years of building programs and events that brought women together in a very intentional way. Executive women, business owners, and leaders would gather, often carrying more than they would ever say out loud to anyone.  

And in those spaces, we would ask a simple but deeply confronting question: What is your purpose? What is the “why” behind your life right now? 

I have asked that question many times over the years. But there was a woman I engaged in one of the sessions where the room shifted in a way that I will never forget. 

There I was listening while each person shared their answers to the question “what is your purpose’ when one woman responded with agitation and deep frustration in a way that I did not expect. She, in turn, obviously deeply offended with a harsh tone, asked me why I would even ask her that. 

Little did I know she had been living with a heart condition and believed that her time was limited. Internally, she was filled with resonation, despair and was somewhat angry that this was her fate. 

In a vulnerable moment, she shared that when she was on the operating table, she wanted the surgeons to let her transition, but they saved her.  

This was the pivotal moment. She’d been holding onto the sadness and anger that she’d lived – she continued, “And I’m still here. How dare you ask me these questions?” 

I remember pausing.  

Not in response. 

But to allow what was said to fill the room.  

And I gently said to her, “That’s all the more reason to consider the questions.” 

It was a moment to allow her pain to breathe and extend an invitation to consider the possibility that her being here still meant something. 

I did not ask her to answer anything that day. I only invited her to stay in the room while others explored their own questions. 

As I allowed her pain to exist, a shift began to take place.  

At first, it was subtle. Our group would meet once a month, and she would listen more than she spoke. Then she began to participate in small ways. Eventually, she spoke up and said something that moved me, and has stayed with me: 

“Maybe I’m here because I’m a catalyst for impacting the lives of others.” 

One day, she shared her full story. She believed her time was up and was angry about it. At the same time, she didn’t want to live with the anger; she just wanted to go. But by simply giving her space and grace to find her own voice, she discovered that her life still held meaning, and she needed to step into it.   

Her story stuck with me over the years and has since then served as a testament to how purpose can reveal itself.  

Purpose can come in disguise. Sometimes it begins with resistance. Sometimes, it sounds like grief, confusion, or even anger. And yet, it can reveal itself if we stay conscious of our inner voice long enough to really listen. 

Her story also represents a real-time moment of why what we do works.  

When a woman connects - or in this case reconnects to her “why,” something deeper is restored and/or birthed. Life begins to take on new meaning for her, and everyone she touches.  

That’s the reason our work matters. It’s the motivation to continue creating spaces that ask deeper questions, even when those questions feel uncomfortable, emotional, or close to the surface of something unspoken. 

It’s a reminder that purpose is deeply human, personal, and often sits just below what we are willing to face. 

It is the power of purpose...