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.

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.