Living on Purpose

🎙️ Episode 2: Living on Purpose — One Intentional Choice at a Time

Are you truly living… or are you just existing?

In this episode of Be PHREEE w/ Charissa Marie, we explore what it means to live with intention in a world that often encourages us to simply go through the motions. Too many people spend their lives reacting to circumstances, waiting for the “right time,” or putting their dreams, purpose, and passions on hold.

But what if purpose isn't something you find?

What if purpose is something you choose—one intentional decision at a time?

Join me for a heartfelt conversation about living deliberately, embracing growth, and aligning your daily choices with the life you truly desire. Whether you're navigating a season of change, feeling stuck, or searching for clarity, this episode offers encouragement and practical reflection to help you move forward with purpose.

✨ In this episode:
 • The difference between existing and truly living
 • Why intentional choices matter
 • How purpose is built through daily decisions
 • Breaking free from autopilot living
 • Taking ownership of the life you're creating

Remember: You don't have to have everything figured out to start living on purpose. Sometimes the next right step is all it takes.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:48

Well, hello, hello, hello, hello, hello. It's me, Carissa Marie. Welcome to Be Free with Me, Carissa Marie. So tonight it's just me and you. And um, let's get to know each other on a whole nother level. Before I do that, I hope you don't mind. I wrote down a little prayer. Um, because I want to start today's show with a prayer. I really I think I want to start all this my shows with a prayer. So hang tight, stay with me. I think thank you for allowing us to gather in your space today. Thank you for every person listening, watching, and joining this conversation. We don't believe anyone is in here by accident. We believe you have a purpose for every life and for every season. So, Lord, we invite your presence into this show. Guide our words, our thoughts, and our hearts. Let everything that is shared today bring wisdom, encouragement, healing, and hope to someone who has an in. And that includes me. Help us to walk in purpose. Help us to be intentional with our time, our gifts, our relationships, and the opportunities you place before us. Give us the courage to move forward when fear tries to stop us, and the faith that we know we have sometimes gets lost. Help us to call on that faith when we cannot see the full picture because sometimes it's not for us to see the full picture. We pray for every listener who may be facing challenges, uncertainty, disappointment, or transitions. Remember that they are loved, chosen, valuable, and created for a reason. Let them leave this conversation feeling strengthened, empowered, inspired, and to take the next step you have called them to take. So may this platform be used for your glory. May your words build people up and not tear them down. And may everyone listening be reminded that their purpose still matters and that their story is not over. Challenges' name we pray. Amen. So, welcome to Be Free with Carissa Marie. So let's talk about that word, purpose, um, and just what it means to be intentional and discovering what it means to uh stop just existing and start living truly in your purpose. That felt good. Someone asked me the other day, they said, so you've done podcasts before. Why is this different? The biggest difference for me, you guys, is I have had a rough couple of years, but those years were um were learning. Like I those years were turning this rock into a diamond. Yeah, they were rough, but I absolutely had to learn for me. I don't know what things are like for you, but for me, I had to learn uh to get in the habit of trusting God completely. Because without trusting God completely, all those things that I did, um even if it in my mind for his glory, I hadn't truly connected my purpose to God. So I couldn't, I couldn't move with the same type of intentionality that I can now. I hope that it that's that's not too wordy, but really I I was out here floating around doing doing what I know I'm supposed to do, but I wasn't locked in uh and wasn't properly using my tools and assets for kingdom glory because I I I was still trying to fix things on my own. If you're if you're trying to fix things on your own all the time, then you're not listening to the person that made you. Sorry, the maker that made you. You're not you're not listening because you think you have it figured out, even though I might say in my mouth, God's got it. I I really can say now that God's got it. So in even in my turmoil, um, even in my joy, but especially in my turmoil, is it's it looks different for me now. It's now about oh my goodness, get me out of this mess. Low-key, I'm excited because I'm like, this is a big mess, Lord. What you got for me? And when I truly put my faith and um I allow God to embrace me and hold me up, then I know that even though I don't see the big picture now, it's not for me to see. It's for me to to have my steps ordered, follow directions, and move in the direction God wants me to. So that's what makes this different now. It was fun before. I had so much fun, it's still gonna be fun, but real talk, now I have written directions from God, and it feels different to me. It feels different to me. So, um purposeful. When you are moving in a way with intent, you guys tell me what you think about what do you do that is purposeful? Um and you know you're moving in a way that is pleasing for me to God. What is it that you do? For some people it is singing, for some people it is being a service, uh working at the school. It can be so many things, but we all need to move in purposeful and intention. Um because once we do, we are um the word I'm looking for. That's one more light shining for someone else to see. And and and if we're shining our light for God, then we are giving him the glory. And I did not mean to get on here and preach, but honestly, because I I don't I don't do that, but um, I just felt led to talk about that. It it's it's beautiful. I dare you. I dare you to try it. I dare you to sit somewhere quiet with yourself tonight and say, what am I led to do that is purposeful, meaningful, that is um, I just know I know that um that I can be I can move in good intention. And for me, it is it's not for me, it's it's because I know that I'm not the only one having these crazy thoughts in my head, but I'm brave enough to voice them now. And I think that's good because somebody else might be having thoughts like, well, you know. Whenever I get up and um I go to church on Sunday and I say hello and welcome to to people coming in the door. I know that's my purpose. It warms my heart to let somebody know I see you, I love you, welcome. It it doesn't have to be big, it could be, it could be that. It could be for me, laughter, laughter amongst my friends in my little group is my purpose. Now I'm not as funny as my girl Sharon, but what I but I do love to see someone smile, and so sometimes uh I might throw in something funny in there because I really love to see someone smile, it warms my heart, and I'm doing that with intent because I know that that that laughter is good for the soul, and I'm going to do more of it this year. I am and yeah, think about that. What are this what some what are some of your things that um you can do purposefully with with good intention? I'm saying good intention because it could be bad intent. We don't want bad intent, we're talking good positive things here, mm-hmm. But yeah, so I have to share with you, it was on my heart to share with you my last podcast. I talked about a little habit that got that I got into. Um, and it really does shape my day. When I don't do it, listen, something goes haywire. Something, it could be little or big, but something is alright. And so I love and it I love doing this because it also builds my relationship and understanding and comprehending of the word too, because I apply it to my life. But I was telling you guys about in the morning. Well, I'm gonna break it down. My goal and what I need to do every morning is first go grab my Bible and then um choose a chapter, not a chapter, choose a verse. I'm only giving myself a few minutes here, and I listen to some uplifting music. For me, I love me some Erica um Campbell. I love Erica Campbell, or whatever it is for you, and get into my own uh private worship, really, and um I read the verse, I like an IV version, I write down the verse, and then I talk about what that verse means, and then I go back and I apply that verse to my life. Like I start the sentence off with Carissa, right? And so you know, you want to know who who taught me that, and who taught all of his congregation that. We don't we probably don't all do it, but he taught us his name is we call him PK, but it's Pastor Kevin Lee, and nobody told me to do this, but I'm this is where I got it from. Uh, it's called something uh new enhancing your prayer life. It talks about other things, but that was one thing that stood out to me, especially um when I was going through, and I was like, yeah, I'm this is a good habit to get into, so that's what I should do every day, right? Because I'm trying to avoid picking up my phone and scrolling, looking at Facebook, or for me, not even really Facebook. I use Facebook for you guys, really. But looking at people that I, you know, see and that I care about that I don't see every day, or reading the news, which maybe I need to stop doing that, you know, or whatever, you know what I mean? Or I might be like, and I wonder if I have 80. What is that? I my brain jumps all over the place. So sometimes I am um doing research for what I don't know, but I might be looking at hmm, what are the effects of sugar when you take it right for you know little stupid things because I just am a curious person. So instead of occupying my time with waste first thing in the morning, I my goal is to first get the Bible. Now, what happens sometimes? I'm real sleepy, I would have maybe hit the snooze one or two or three times already. So if I don't get the Bible right away, then I at least have my little tablet set up for me to just hit Miles Monroe because um I enjoy listening to him and it's a positive first thing in the morning, and it gets me kind of on the good foot. And yeah, I I can say, hey, I wasn't scrolling, you know, I wasn't wasting my time because it's easy to do, so yeah, there's that, and in general, um, it's different because I just don't have to guess anymore that God's got me. Because even though I've heard it, grandma said it, um, life has hit me with a few doozies, and I have found myself angry. I have found myself doubtful, I have found myself hopeless, and I have found myself feeling alone in the chaos of life like many of us sometimes do. And um it took something catastrophic to happen for me to know to forever lean on the Lord because he's waiting for me to lean on him, and I have been wasting my time trying to figure out his plan for me. Show enough. So um, this is not how this is supposed to go, but I'm glad, I'm glad we got this out. What I would love to hear from you guys is what sort of topics would you like to hear, see, talk about? A few things for me come to mind. Um, I am gonna reach out to a few therapists. Um, I really want to talk about things like abuse and the many different boxes they come in because it's not just always physical. Um, I want to talk about um mental health and the stigma that comes with mental health, especially with black people, especially with church folk. I really want to have these conversations um because they're enlightening for me, and if I find it enlightening, I and I'm just like you, then it might be enlightening for you, and also somebody might want to hear how somebody can be on a real low, but how there is a light at the end of the tunnel that we need to talk about. So I would love to have those type of conversations, but you guys DM me, send me, send me messages. I want to hear what you guys think we should talk about. Uh, we want to talk about, of course, menopause. I'm going through it right now. Currently, I have the air on frozen because just moments before now, I was melting my whole face off. Terrible. And I need to talk to an expert because I have hangups. My hangup is I don't take anything for it, and that could be a little old school because I just look at my mom and my grandmother when she was alive, and neither one of them did, and they made it through. But isn't that a little crazy? You know, I'm sure there are things I can do, so you know, I'm I'm looking to talk about that. We need to talk about strokes in our age group and black women, and we need to do that because it's real, it becomes really real when people in your circle experience these life-changing events, and it is a reminder that we are human, and um knowledge is something we all need to kind of know what what this next phase of our life is gonna be like going into it, because some of us aren't 20 and 30 anymore or 40, you're saying we're up there, things have changed. So I want to hear from you guys what you think. I'm trying to see how long we've been at this because this has been aha, we have 10 minutes. So, I'm so I would like to hear from you guys what you want to talk about, ladies. What you want to talk about? So that I can get it together over here. But I am so happy to um be here and to talk to you guys, and I hope um, and you know, it's a safe place here, it's safe because I know I I I have things I I have to get off my chest, okay? And let me just apologize now in advance if it is a little much for you. Not today, not today, you know, but I'm just saying uh I think it's good for the soul to get it out in a productive, safe space. So, yeah, let's talk about adult child children, let's talk about it, let's talk about teenage children. Maybe or maybe not. So, we got a lot of stuff to talk about, but I'm so glad that you tuned in, and and I am looking forward to getting to know you all and you all getting to know me, and we will keep it fun. Um, and you know, we're all gonna get something out of this. That's really all I have for tonight. I can't wait until the next time I see you. But everybody, have a great rest of your week. Be free.