Sometimes, the moments that shape our lives aren’t the big achievements or milestones. They’re the moments that plant seeds we may not understand until years later.

If you’ve ever felt disconnected, unsure of your soul’s purpose, this story might offer some insight into how our deepest callings are waiting for us.

I was five years old when my soul’s purpose revealed itself to me. I was a shy, quiet little girl growing up in a home where love wasn’t expressed in ways I could feel. One afternoon, while playing outside, a neighbourhood bully decided to “teach me a lesson” and hit me in the head with a stick that had a nail in it.

I ended up in the emergency room needing stitches.

I remember sitting alone on a cold stretcher, a sterile cloth draped over my face so all I could see was black. Terrified. No parent, sibling, or friend beside me. Just the sound of my own small breaths in the dark.

And then… a hand reached out.

Someone — a nurse, or maybe an angel — began gently rubbing my arm. She stayed with me, holding my hand, and whispered, “You’re not alone. I’m here with you. You’re going to be okay.”

I never saw her face. I couldn’t tell you her name. But I felt her compassion as if it were a warm light in the darkness. For the first time in my young life, I felt safe in the presence of another human being.

That moment didn’t fix my circumstances. It didn’t erase the pain.

I felt a deep sense of connection, as if she understood my fear because she, too, had known suffering. She wasn’t there to change the situation; she was there to be with me in it.

Without realizing it, she planted the seed of compassion that would become my soul’s purpose.

Years later, when someone asked why I became a nurse, the answer was simple:

Because when I was a little girl, a nurse’s compassion changed my life. She’ll likely never know the impact she had on me, but it’s because of her that I chose to spend my life alleviating unnecessary suffering in both myself and others.

As I reflected on this, I realized that I didn’t pick nursing; it picked me. That moment was an invitation from something bigger than myself, summoning me toward a path I hadn’t yet imagined.

I worked as a nurse for over thirty years, and it truly did feel like my life’s work. Decades later, when I left nursing, I thought I was done with that calling. But life had other plans.

Even with comfort and security, something felt profoundly missing. I had lost touch with the work that gave my life meaning — that sense of being useful in alleviating suffering in a meaningful way. Without realizing it, I had disconnected from the part of myself that felt most alive and purposeful.

It wasn’t until years later, when I awakened to the realization that I even had a soul, that I began to see the golden thread.

I didn’t return to nursing, but I found my way back to that deeper soul purpose just expressed in a new way. Now, instead of alleviating suffering as a nurse working with seniors and end-of-life care, I give people the tools and a map to become more fully themselves when they’re suffering because they feel lost, empty, or like something essential is missing from their own lives.

This is why I understand so deeply when clients tell me they feel disconnected from themselves or that something is missing. I know what it’s like to have your path revealed not through big moments, but through quiet acts of grace that redirect your entire life. I also know what it’s like to lose that sense of purpose and feel untethered from what makes life meaningful.

My soul’s purpose was never only about nursing. It was about learning, over and over again, that compassion and presence have the power to transform a kind of pain medicine can’t touch — the pain of being alone without tools in our suffering.

This is why I believe that when we feel like something is missing, we’re often being called back to our soul’s deeper purpose, not necessarily the same role or career, but the golden thread that runs through all our meaningful work.

The question isn’t always “What should I do?” but “What part of me feels most alive when I’m serving something bigger than myself?”

When I think about my soul’s purpose now, I return to that mystical moment of grace. A moment when I was sitting in the darkness, and someone’s presence lit a small candle in my soul.

Sometimes those moments that touch our hearts and awaken our souls become our greatest gifts to others.

So I’ll leave you with these questions:

What golden threads from your past point toward your deeper purpose? And how might the very thing that feels missing be calling you toward your next chapter of meaningful contribution?

If you feel called, please share with us below. Our community would love to hear from you!