When I lost all hope after losing my job you helped me find a purpose
DEAR DEIDRE: HAVING always loved my job as a regional sales manager, I was so worried about how I would cope with redundancy last year.
But all of that paled into insignificance when I became very ill with pneumonia. I was so low before going into hospital and I wrote to you.
You reassured me that I could find purpose in another job and suggested I try volunteering in the meantime to ensure I remained positive.
While I was in hospital, I kept thinking about your email and vowed to volunteer with a local youth group when I got discharged.
Luckily I was only in for three nights. I am 59 and my wife is 55.
Our families both rallied round, and our friends really stepped up, too.
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It helped me to feel valued.
Now I am looking to the future with optimism.
Oh, and I love my work with the youth group. It helps me to stay young.
Thank you.
DEIDRE SAYS: Many people who are diagnosed with life-threatening illnesses do look at life in a different way and gain a whole new perspective that focuses them on the important things in their lives – those things that add meaning and purpose.
We are not invincible and it’s a reminder that life can be taken at any moment. I’m glad I could help.