Dorinda Walker: From a Path to Prison to a Life Full of Purpose
As the saying goes: "it's not what people call you, it's what you answer to" that matters. For Dorinda Walker, she now answers to the name given her by living a life full of purpose. That wasn't always the case, however. In fact, the true-life story of Dorinda Walker can only be defined as her new book says: Protected by Purpose.
In life, it's not how you start, it's how you finish, and Mrs. Walker is well on her way to a strong finish, following a tumultuous beginning. Born to drug addicted parents, the life of addiction and destruction quickly became a part of her life story as well. Suffering in a home with wayward parents, she was destructive, distressed and suicidal, but more importantly she was protected by purpose. Following an attempt to take her own life, she was visited by the spirit of her grandmother who confirmed the purpose on her life!
Many succumb to the rigors of a lifestyle of drug addiction and pain, but Walker is standing victorious and sharing her story with others in hopes to compel them beyond their current trials and struggles to embrace a path of purpose in their own lives.
Once destined for destruction, Walker attributes divine intervention with the placement of people and opportunities that ultimately altered the trajectory of her life's destiny. "30 years ago around this time I woke up in a psych ward after trying to commit suicide. And to see where God has taken me and to know that at one point I didn't think I was worthy and God said you are...only God, it's only God who could help me and put me in that position."
In the book, her first, Walker gives a dramatic firsthand account of being born into a dysfunctional family, suffering the consequences of her parents' drug addiction, her father's battle with AIDS, surviving domestic violence, mental illness and overcoming crippling low self-esteem. Walker experienced challenges that could stop many in their tracks, but instead it served as a catalyst to success for her.
Though she now enjoys a vivid career as a finance company executive, in demand speaker and newly published author, Mrs. Walker's most profound position is best defined as living on purpose. Rising from her dark past, she now shines her light illuminating the path to help others discover their purpose and work to achieve it.
"I wrote the book because I wanted to own the narrative of my story. I wanted to show people that you don't only have to survive, but you can overcome and find success and find that peace and joy and prosperity if you learn through that process of forgiveness and finding your faith and putting that faith with fortitude-putting in the work to make it happen..."
Walker currently serves as an executive in a Fortune 50 company and lives at the opposite end of the spectrum of hope. Once suicidal, she now lives each day full of purpose, power and passion. She is a believer in hard work and believes that people of purpose must be committed to the hard work needed to make it a reality. Faith and fortitude are two of the deciding factors in Mrs. Walker's life's turnaround. A message she's now sharing with readers in Protected by Purpose.
"If you're struggling with hope and despair, understand that you are the only one who can do the work to achieve the vision that God has put in your head. So if you're struggling with despair know that there's hope, there's a light at the end of the tunnel. I went from trying to commit suicide to becoming a top executive and living my dream of purpose and if God did it for me, He can do it for you. Don't give up on yourself, understand how to love yourself. Take yourself out of negative environments and away from negative people. You have to put in the work, you have to have the courage and fortitude to see it through. I promise you, when you walk through that door of the unknown and put your faith over your fear, the result will be bigger and better than you could have ever imagined."
Protected by Purpose is Dorinda Walker's first book and is available by Timothy & Titus at booksellers everywhere.
