Meet Dana Seibel

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Dana Seibel. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Dana, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.

Watching someone die elicits the most helpless emotion you will ever feel. The experience is life altering, nevertheless. No one on their deathbed will tell you how much they regret the effort they put into their life. The regret is always associated with what they never took the time to do. Here are 3 key components I have learned on my journey to finding my purpose in my 42 years of life so far. The first is identity: knowing and trusting yourself enough to align your beliefs with actions.

As an occupational therapist and gerontologist, I know the wisdom and the hardship of aging. I’ve experienced the changes in my own body and mind through trauma and time. I look forward to the “Golden years”, not as a time of decline and decay, but as a time of growth and fulfillment, of peace and harmony, of freedom and happiness. I embrace aging as a natural and inevitable part of life, and I celebrate it as a gift and an opportunity.

My working career path, since the age of 16, has been in a variety of settings including hospitality, customer service and healthcare. I love people. I have a passion for helping others and a habit of being a “people pleaser”. For a very long time I cared too much about what other people thought of me to recognize my identity as an individual, my purpose and my path in life. This left me feeling unworthy, far away from God and lacking in self-esteem and self confidence. I was like a wave in the ocean being pushed around never really knowing where I would end up or who I would become.

The shift happened when I started listening to the call in my heart. It started out as a feeling of dissatisfaction and over time, it became a heavy weight on my chest and a dark shadow in my mind. I remember, during my 3 years as a medical billing agent, looking around the office and asking myself, “IS THIS IT?”. “WILL I BE OKAY WITH MY LIFE IF THIS WAS ALL I DID?”. In that moment, the thought of trying and failing was more meaningful than never knowing my true potential. I spent the next 8 years in college and finally graduated with a masters of science degree for occupational therapy.

Looking back, those 8 years were a time of self discovery and hardship. I was borderline depressed with a heart condition, skimming the surface of life. Along the way, I cried out to God and when God answered, he made it very clear his love and intention was for a relationship.

If we are made in his image and likeness, then each one of us has direct access to him which means there is a spiritual component. A relationship with God is how I began to grow my faith. It is because of the free gift of God that we can activate the fruits of the Spirit which are joy, kindness, love, goodness, peace, and faithfulness. In my own strength, I am weak. With the strength of God, I can do all things. Faith is the second component to finding and filling one’s purpose.

Faith is what guided me to an understanding of why identity is important. It led me to my purpose and developed in me a passion to build community and help mature women grow their faith to improve quality of life and preserve quality of care for the community. The epidemic of ageism plagues the younger and older generations causing rapid decline in health and wellness and a higher demand for caregiving. As the demand on our healthcare system grows, rates of depression and suicide are climbing towards an all time high. The financial burden of an expensive healthcare system is also causing more stress on families contributing to the decay of quality of relationships between family and community.

The opportunity to improve our healthcare system starts with the individual. Many mainstream trends promise short-term achievements with hope for long-term happiness only for the participant or member to fall back into old habits and deteriorating systems. The heart of the struggle is with self-worth, self-control, consistency and discipline which are all intrinsic factors. To gain an eternal understanding, one that allows us to see outside of our own fears, requires knowledge of wisdom. This is what the Spirit offers and is also the final component to finding purpose in life.

Wisdom is associated with time, aging and longevity of life. What is often overlooked, however, are the gifts that come with wisdom. The biblical view of wisdom is that God gives to all who seek it regardless of age. Wisdom is better than strength, more profitable than silver and better than gold, no other desire compares to its riches and honor, it is a guide on a straight path, provides satisfaction and happiness. No one has to wait for time to pass before asking and receiving wisdom. It is the foundation of a strong faith and provides specific direction pointing towards fulfillment of life. The Spirit holds wisdom, as it is the essence of who we are, and allows access to a natural and unmatched energy that has the ability to create, change and improve life.

As already described, wisdom, faith and identity are the key components to finding purpose. They are deep concepts but one thing that no one tells you is the passion that comes with figuring all of this out. The kind of passion that fuels a dream and paints a vision of a legacy that can be passed down to each new generation. Your purpose is not only a calling, it is a duty. You owe it to yourself, your family and community to try your best to leave this earth a little bit better than the day you arrived; for the wise say that the day of death is better than the day of birth.

What can you do today to make tomorrow better so the worry is less? What can you do today to protect your quality of life so you can be as independent as possible for as long as possible so the burden of aging is light? Those are the types of questions that align with an eternal life vision. The risk of early onset of disease and dysfunction is minimized with the practice of really great everyday habits. This is the essence of what Full FAITH OT offers to mature women who are looking for a better way of life.

The desired outcome, as described by an eternal perspective, is joy, peace, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control. It is having a greater awareness for who you are as your authentic self and creating a system for daily success that aligns with your beliefs and values. The outcome is to become a better advocate for your needs and take control over your own health. To be the one who decides how you will feel each and every day is 100% your choice. The wisdom that comes with taking responsibility for one’s thoughts and actions improves the sense of worthiness and purpose which drives success and longevity of overall health. This is the vision I had when developing the Full FAITH OT program. The FFOT, LLC was created to help women find their faith, grow their faith and maintain their faith for longevity and quality of life.

The ones who have a greater sense of peace about life also live an engaged life in their advanced years. They find joy and carry the wisdom of all the lessons learned with little to no regrets. I hope that many other women find that this can be their story too.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I’m a Colorado native with a diverse ethnic background. My mother is Italian and my father, African American. Growing up as the minority, I’ve always felt set a part. I met my husband in high school and we’ve been married for 21 years. I am a mom of 2 older kiddos, 15 and 22. I love to travel, drink coffee and attend a weekly zumba class! I have a servants heart and always looking for ways to build new relationships.

I’m currently focused on building a legacy through Full FAITH OT, LLC. I designed a 12-week program for women who are ready to grow their faith. The focus is on mental, physical and spiritual wellness to improve quality of life. This program aims to help mature women become better advocates of their needs by creating a self-care system in order to anticipate life with joy and be better prepared for life transitions and the arrival of advanced aging.

The FFOT team is currently in the stages of additional market research and we are looking to give 6 women the opportunity to join the program. Their 12-week journey will be documented on the FFOT website as testimonials. Our mission is to make sure we are filling the gap and providing a needed service to women in hopes to create a brighter outcome with less fear about end of life.

I am also really excited to share the other side to this story which is showing women what it takes to become successful at entrepreneurship. What it takes to have an idea and create something from the ground up. Social media is very good at advertising that it can be done and the potential monetary gains but what about business building as a calling from God—what does that look like? Being open about the process hoping to encourage other women to help fill the gaps in society with what they are most passionate about.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

The three most important areas of knowledge that were most impactful in my journey are identity, faith and wisdom.

Identity is the foundation of self-esteem and worthiness. This is what you build your set of beliefs and values on. Why did God create women? What were you created for? What happens after this life?

Faith is what will keep your actions aligned with your belief system. It is a reminder of your worth and the value of being intentional about daily habits and ability to fear less about the future. To have a strong faith is to be able to discern truth and gain understanding about the value of an eternal perspective which requires wisdom.

Wisdom is not always associated with old age. It is also a gift from God given to anyone who asks. Wisdom is the life-giving force that works along side the Holy Spirit and allows one the ability to understand and experience the fruits of the Spirit which is joy, peace, love, patience, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Gal 5:22).

Advice for women who are early in their journey is to realize that the Spirit is the essence of who we are. Just as much as you would nurture and care for your mental or physical health, the Spirit needs to be nurtured as well. This is how you activate the supernatural energy and unlock the fruits of the Spirit that produces in you a passion for life.

Who is your ideal client or what sort of characteristics would make someone an ideal client for you?

The ideal client is a woman in the middle of life, experiencing the chaos of raising kiddos, managing a home, maintaining relationships and possibly a career. The woman who yearns to turn back time and fears going through the aging process but also feels a call on her heart to do something different. A woman who is ready to live as her authentic self and become the woman she visualizes in the future, one who is physically and mentally strong and looks forward to seeing her self as an old lady. She wants to continue to do the things she needs to do, wants to do and absolutely loves to do. She knows that her habits must change in order for her to be satisfied, at her end of life, with the effort she put towards achieving quality of life.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.full-faith-ot.com
• Instagram: loveyourmentalfitness
• Facebook: Dana Seibel