The world tells me I can be anything I want to be if I imagine it, work toward it, and believe that I can be it. There’s some great encouragement there, and in a limited way that is true. I can be anything I want to be within the riverbanks of who I am.

What do I mean by riverbanks?

I was born into a family and their combined DNA, which shapes my physical self, as does my place of origin, my food intake, and the patterns of my family of origin. I am affected by life experiences and influenced by peers, but I can still make major changes to my life and be the first in my family to accomplish so many opportunities. Some great examples from history are:

• the biblical patriarch Abraham — his namesake Abraham Lincoln
• the first president of the U.S. George Washington — his namesake George Washington Carver

However, I will never be:

• the Queen of England.
  I am not British or in the royal lineage.
  The best I can hope for is marriage into the royal family and become a Duchess.
• The first woman to play in the NBA.
  I’m 5-feet-7-inches tall and jumping is not part of my natural abilities.
  There are physical limitations that make this an unachievable dream.
• I am gifted in creativity, linking, networking, deep thinking, and making hard things accessible. However, timelines and calendars are learned skills that require technology and the setting of alarms and reminders. If my dream was to be the world’s foremost event planner, I might be able to surround myself with teammates who fill in the gaps, reach my dream, but would I find myself content and happy there?

I believe that God set the banks of my river before time began, and He placed me in the world in the time, place, and river that He planned for me. Inside the banks of the river, I have a myriad of choices:

• I can meander and eddy,
• attempt to overflow my banks,
• stagnate in a shady side pool,
• or dry up.

I can flow anywhere inside my riverbanks, but the way I flow depends on whether or not I invite the water of life to flow through me. I can fill the river with flotsam and jetsam, pesticides, and silt. I can dam it up and swim in the lake I created. Or I can go with His flow.