Why MUST We Choose?

I’m sure you’ve been asked at some point in your life the defining question? So, what do you want to be when you grow up? Do you want to be A doctor, A lawyer, A teacher? What are you going to do with your life? The answer to that question is one many people wrestle with for years and for some all of their life. I think the real question isn’t what do you want to be when you grow up, but rather who do want to be when you grow up? Because there are many different ways that your life can express your “who” that doesn’t fit into being one single “what”. When people ask this question they are looking for a single categorizing answer. I don’t think we mean to catalog one another, but there’s safety in having a clear individualized answer to who someone is and we all like safety, right?

I was at a conference a few weeks ago, the Fabulous New You Conference, and I experienced so many ah-ha moments. One conference speaker in particular really spoke to me, Lauren Lake, judge from the Paternity Court show. She talked about the different roads she had taken in her life, she was an attorney who ended up being a host of a television show on HGTV, she sung background vocals at one point, was an interior designer, she makes jewelry, is an author, and now a judge. She had people questioning her because to them she seemed to be all over the place. She shared some poignant revelations with us from her life of journeying through the many different expressions of her purpose, she said, “We only get one life and there’s no dress rehearsal, just show up without any limitations in your mind. We are all multifaceted. It’s all about showing up as you are even if you don’t know why you are!” Isn’t that some amazingly juicy stuff?!

Her story resonated with me because— it is mine! I am an Ordained Minister with a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Family Life Education who has modeled, been an actress, travel with a ministry, been a spokesperson, hosted, I’ve been a teacher, a counselor, a stylist, I’m an author, I minister, I have a gift of Prophesy and a few other spiritual gifts, I speak, I produce television broadcast, and I’m sure I’m leaving some things out. For so long I didn’t want all that stuff, I wanted something safe and simple! I used to wonder, God why have you given me all these gifts and talents, where do they all fit? Which in itself is crazy that we think we are supposed to somehow make the gifts inside us fit! We originate from an I AM God, he has numerous titles, he’s infinite and immeasurable, but somehow we think he created these limited, boxed in, easily defined humans. We are created in His boundless, magnificent image!

I know who I want to be because I understand why I am. My who has been and will continue to be expressed in many different, “titles”, which is why I hate titles because it is a way of classifying people and putting them a safe box. Can I be real honest? I’m not fond of branding either, the strategy behind it, because it is another way of classifying the limitless beings that we are. *Sigh* I digress.

At the core of who I am is a free spirit! I color outside the lines and for those closest to me at times it drives them nuts. I truly just want to show up as me, Anesha Alexandria Sharp, and express my “who” though various what’s and I’ve decided that’s exactly what I’m going to do. I AM a Child of God, a Daughter, a Wife, a Mother, an Author, a Speaker, a Minister, a Prophet, an Actress, I could go on and I’m still things the world has yet to see! BUT, my whole life can be wrapped into one word: inspiration! In all those titles it is the why I am!