I Choose/To be the best that I can be/I Choose/To be authentic in everything I do/My past don’t dictate who I am /I CHOOSE!! – India.ArieI had the pleasure of (finally!) seeing one of my favorite contemporary artists, India.Arie, in concert this past weekend. All I can say is that she was BEYOND amazing. Not only did I enjoy her voice, but I appreciated her presence and what she stands for as an artist and a woman. On top of that, I was very pleased to see that her background singers were two gorgeous, plus-size, voluptuous divas who could really SANG! The highlight of my evening was hearing India sing my absolute favorite song by her, which is “I Choose.” After the concert, I began thinking about the power of choice and how I could continue building the courage to create my life more powerfully.
I am woman enough to say that I had a little moment during that concert. John Legend, who was equally amazing and delightful to look at and lust over, was the headliner for the evening and I was enjoying his set until he started to sing his song “Slow Dance.” I would have been perfectly fine if he did not encourage all the fellas in the building to grab their ladies and pull them close. My exquisite evening for one was slowly unraveling as I had the stark realization that there was no one for me to slow dance with at that moment. I let the funk get a little cozy with me for awhile, but then I had to quickly catch my thoughts and make the choice not to wallow in my singleness. I had to make the choice to be grateful for the money that God gave me for the ticket, gas, and fabulous outfit and make-up to get me to the concert. I had to choose to be glad that there would be no booty call expected from me at the end of the night for the price of my concert ticket. Instead, I chose to be glad that I had the opportunity to listen to two of my favorite artists and spend time with my favorite person on the planet – me.
Some choices are easier than others. I love choosing which shade of eye shadow I will wear for the day, but I’m not always so fond of stepping up to the plate when a confrontation comes my way. I love choosing to get down on some good home cooking, such as my sister Wanda’s mac and cheese, but I’m not fond of what the scale will say if I don’t balance out a rich meal with a few laps around the track. We all have choices to make every day. We can choose to let someone piss us off, we can choose to allow someone’s opinion affect us, we can choose to be ruled by the scale, and we can choose to live our lives far below our God-given privilege. But, we can also choose to ignore people and opinions that are not worthy of who we are, we can choose to live healthy lives on our own terms, and rise to the greatness that God has placed inside each and every one of us. I wish I could report that the tough decisions get easier as I go along (no such luck!), but I am glad to have the growing wisdom and knowledge to make better choices and to know that I can choose to make each day better than the last.
May your day be filled with the CHOICE to be all that God has made you to be!
I am woman enough to say that I had a little moment during that concert. John Legend, who was equally amazing and delightful to look at and lust over, was the headliner for the evening and I was enjoying his set until he started to sing his song “Slow Dance.” I would have been perfectly fine if he did not encourage all the fellas in the building to grab their ladies and pull them close. My exquisite evening for one was slowly unraveling as I had the stark realization that there was no one for me to slow dance with at that moment. I let the funk get a little cozy with me for awhile, but then I had to quickly catch my thoughts and make the choice not to wallow in my singleness. I had to make the choice to be grateful for the money that God gave me for the ticket, gas, and fabulous outfit and make-up to get me to the concert. I had to choose to be glad that there would be no booty call expected from me at the end of the night for the price of my concert ticket. Instead, I chose to be glad that I had the opportunity to listen to two of my favorite artists and spend time with my favorite person on the planet – me.
Some choices are easier than others. I love choosing which shade of eye shadow I will wear for the day, but I’m not always so fond of stepping up to the plate when a confrontation comes my way. I love choosing to get down on some good home cooking, such as my sister Wanda’s mac and cheese, but I’m not fond of what the scale will say if I don’t balance out a rich meal with a few laps around the track. We all have choices to make every day. We can choose to let someone piss us off, we can choose to allow someone’s opinion affect us, we can choose to be ruled by the scale, and we can choose to live our lives far below our God-given privilege. But, we can also choose to ignore people and opinions that are not worthy of who we are, we can choose to live healthy lives on our own terms, and rise to the greatness that God has placed inside each and every one of us. I wish I could report that the tough decisions get easier as I go along (no such luck!), but I am glad to have the growing wisdom and knowledge to make better choices and to know that I can choose to make each day better than the last.
May your day be filled with the CHOICE to be all that God has made you to be!
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