Your Words Matter:
How Life's Journey Transformed My Words Into a Compass for Others
Your Words Matter: The Compass That Continues to Lead Me Forward
By Dr. Sheila Dunbar
There are words I have heard throughout my life that I can still remember today. Some encouraged me, some strengthened me, and others taught me how deeply words can remain in the heart long after a conversation has ended. Through the different seasons of my life, I have come to understand that words are never as small as they seem. They can build confidence, awaken purpose, bring healing, or leave an impression that lasts for years. That realization became deeply personal to me and eventually became one of the defining messages of my life: Your words matter.
My formative years gave me a foundation, but life experience shaped the woman I have become. I have known accomplishments and disappointments, open doors and closed ones, love and loss. There have been seasons when my direction was clear and others when I simply had to keep moving forward. Through it all, life gave me wisdom, strength, compassion, and perspective. I learned that a difficult chapter does not have to become the conclusion of my story. I could continue learning, dreaming, creating, and becoming. I also made a decision that age would never determine the boundaries of my purpose.
Today, I am no longer trying to return to the woman I once was. I have learned to embrace the woman I have become. My faith has sustained me. I Am She and She Is Me was my first published book. She has known loss, but she still has vision. She has experienced disappointment, but she still believes in possibilities.
Somewhere along that journey, writing became my compass. A compass does not erase the road already traveled; it uses where you have been to help point you toward where you are going. That is what becoming an author has done for me.
My experiences gave me something to say, but becoming an author gave those experiences direction. Writing allowed me to transform life lessons into something that could reach beyond me. Pain could become purpose. Experience could become wisdom. And words written on a page could reach people I may never personally meet.
When I wrote I Declare and Decree: Your Words Matter, I wasn't simply choosing a title. I was giving a name to something life had already taught me: people carry words. Some people are still strengthened by something spoken into their lives years ago, while others are still trying to overcome words that caused them to question their worth or identity.
I have learned that what someone said about you does not have to become what you believe about yourself. Yesterday's words do not have to determine tomorrow's direction.
My compass continues to point forward as an author. I believe there are more stories to tell, more opportunities to embrace, and more ways to use my voice to encourage someone else. I am not writing simply to say that I am an author. I am writing because I have something to say.
I especially want my words to reach the woman who believes her opportunity has passed. Purpose does not have an expiration date. Loss does not mean life has nothing more to offer, and a painful chapter does not have to become the ending.
At this stage of my life, I appreciate the woman I have become, not because the journey has been perfect, but because I continued. If something I have lived through can help another woman move forward, then my experience has purpose. If something I write helps someone rediscover her voice, believe in herself again, or find the courage to turn the page, then my words have accomplished something meaningful.
That is what influence means to me.
Influence is more than being seen. It is using what you have lived through to help someone else find her way forward.
My life compass is still pointing forward. My voice is still developing. My story is still being written. And after everything life has taught me, one truth remains at the center of my journey:
Your life matters.
Your experience matters.
Your voice matters.
And your words matter.
Speak It. Believe It. Receive It.
