Lets Just Talk About It Podcast with Chuck

EP.95 Your Uniqueness Is your Gift with guest Dr. Sherita Parks

• Season 2 • Episode 95

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Have you ever pondered the transformative power of personal trials and the quest for identity? Dr. Sherita Parks, a health and wellness coach with an inspiring story of triumph over adversity, joins me, Chuck, for a heartwarming conversation. Sherita's journey is a beacon of hope for anyone seeking renewal and a deeper understanding of self.

Throughout this dialogue, we unearth the intricate layers of healing that transcend the physical, delving into the vibrant tapestry of Sherita's life experiences. We explore the broader implications of trauma and wellness, dismantling misconceptions, and emphasizing the essential role of faith and perseverance in our paths to wholeness.

With Sherita's strategic leadership expertise lighting the way, we reflect on the psychology behind behavior change and the power of meaningful communication. This episode is not only a call to action for leaders but an invitation to embrace the stillness that fosters personal growth, with Dr. Sherita Parks guiding us through her philosophy of hope, healing, and the sacred journey towards embracing one's true worth.

Chuck:

Hey, welcome back to another episode of let's Just Talk About it podcast. I'm your host, chuck, and if you're here for the first time, this platform was created to give genuine people just like you an opportunity to share a portion of your life's journey. So, with that being said, today I have Sherita Parks on with me today, well, we have a great conversation about her passion as a health and wellness coach, where she helps to encourage leaders to seek fulfillment in all aspects of their lives, from their physical health to their emotional well-being and spiritual growth. So, hey, you don't want to miss this amazing conversation today. As a matter of fact, do me a favor Go and grab your husband, your wife, your children, or even call a friend and gather around to listen to my conversation with Sherita on let's Just Talk About it podcast. Hey, let's jump right in. Welcome back to another episode of let's Just Talk About it podcast, and on this episode, I have Dr Sherita Parks on with me today. How are you doing today, sherita?

Sherita Parks:

Hi, I'm doing great. How are you doing today?

Chuck:

Doing good, doing good. Thanks for being on Good.

Sherita Parks:

Thank you for having me. I really appreciate it.

Chuck:

Absolutely. You're welcome, sherita. I love to jump right into my interviews to have those genuine conversations with genuine people just like yourself, and I love to start off with this question when are you from?

Sherita Parks:

I am from P-Town and everybody in this area knows that P-Town is Portsmouth, virginia. I grew up there and went to school there most of my life and then moved to Chesapeake at one time and now I'm out in the Carrollton Virginia area near Smithfield.

Chuck:

Wow, wow, wow. Yeah, so you don't remember me right, but I lived on Alcindor Road and you stayed on North Carenton, north Carenton, yep. Absolutely.

Sherita Parks:

Yes, if you weren't in my grade, then it's probably out of my brain.

Chuck:

Yeah, yeah, you were a neighbor.

Sherita Parks:

I was a neighbor. Yes, definitely.

Chuck:

Absolutely so. When you think about Cavalier Manor P-Town, how was that for you? Because we all grew up in different eras and saw it from a different perspective. So how was P-Town to you growing up? It was a place, it was home. You know it from a different perspective.

Sherita Parks:

So how was P-Town to you growing up. It was a place. It was home. You know it felt like a safe place. I grew up in a pretty stable family environment. We had lots of kids in the neighborhood to play with and even the neighbors the adult neighbors that were friends with our parents. It was like everybody was kind of connected as a family.

Sherita Parks:

So when you hear people say it takes a village, you know, that was kind of the way it was back in the day. You know, if somebody was getting out of line, you could expect anybody's parent to call you out and call your mama. So yeah, but it was a place of safety and home and growing and I loved it.

Chuck:

You're absolutely right. It was that. And you had a next door neighbor. Yes, her dad had a peach tree. If she hears this, she knows who I'm talking about?

Sherita Parks:

I know right. Are you talking about the Uries? Absolutely, grover had his little garden and his peach tree.

Chuck:

Yes, and me and my cousin used to sneak back then and take some off the tree.

Sherita Parks:

Oh, she's going to hear this, she's going to get you Absolutely.

Chuck:

It was fun. It was fun you saw a lot of kids and, yeah, it was full of kids growing up.

Sherita Parks:

And we had the neighborhood pool. So I don't know if you and your sister was. You know, all the kids came over to our house because we had pool. So at some point everybody came through our yard.

Chuck:

Yes, yep, you're right, so it was good times it was good yeah, so full circle. You know, coming together to do a episode together is major to me. So, yeah, I appreciate you being a part of this episode, you know.

Sherita Parks:

You're welcome.

Chuck:

So, growing up in Portsmouth, all of us get to a place where we get grown and we feel like you know it's time to leave the house. I don't know if you went to college. I don't know how was that for you when you finally left from under your parents' roof?

Sherita Parks:

The tutelage of pastor reverend alvin r knight and mom margaret knight. Wow so, because my dad became a pastor later in life, but they were all. We were always very involved with church activities and, you know, had a good christ Christian foundation in our home and when I went away for college I wanted to get as far away as possible. I can say this now because God bless them. Rest in peace. They are no longer here to beat up on me if they hear this.

Sherita Parks:

But yeah, I think they knew that and the weird thing is I was the really shy, quiet kid but I wanted to be far away from home because I just felt I felt this need to spread my wings right and to come from under the tutelage and influence of my family and just kind of figure out who I was, because I, even from an early age, I kind of had an identity crisis, so to speak, and you'll hear more about that wow, wow.

Chuck:

So you felt like you had to get for money that you know, wow so being being, I guess what we call being a preacher's kid yeah yeah, I got you, I got you, so I got you. So you leave home and do you go to college.

Sherita Parks:

You say I went to college, um up in Radford, virginia, right, um, and you know, even then, you know I was kind of searching, trying to figure out what I was supposed to do in the world and, um, I always, from childhood, struggle with kind of a undiagnosed ADHD, which kind of shows up a little differently for females. I know that now, I didn't know it then, but I always kind of had this feeling like I'm so different from everybody else. I would hear other kids and young adults speaking. I'm like I don't think like that, I don't move like that. I'm not wired that way. There's got to be something wrong with me. Why does it take me so long to get certain things done?

Sherita Parks:

You know, and I couldn't figure it all out at that age, but when I went to college there was a continuation of that that age, but when I went to college there was a continuation of that. Now I'm at school alone and I'm having to navigate some of those challenges that you know. And it wasn't I wouldn't say it was a lack of cognitive ability, like a lot of people think I literally could hyper-focus on things that I was interested in, and like I mean, I'm still that way. But you know a lot of the executive functioning skills and just socialization. All of that kind of stuff was a challenge for me. So that led me down a path of seeking for acceptance and community. I joined a sorority, not even realizing the spiritual implications of that until much later in life, you know, just always trying to be accepted and viewed as being quote unquote normal that's deep.

Chuck:

You know. I always say you never know who's listening, who's dealing with the same type of thing and don't know, why we seek acceptance from our peers, you know what I mean why we go so hard now. You know, what I mean. So that's deep.

Sherita Parks:

And when you grow up in a family that's, they're pillars in the community, they're pillars in the church, they're leaders in the community and they have all of these high expectations of you.

Sherita Parks:

Then that creates this another level of that insecurity and identity crisis, where you're striving for perfection. You know you're always trying to go for these grandiose things, not even realize why you're chasing after the stuff, and it's just layer after layer of dysfunction from operating like that for years. And then all of a sudden you know you have that moment in your life when you're like I'm not well, what's going on here?

Chuck:

Talk about that.

Sherita Parks:

Why am I in this place? You know, yeah, so that's kind of part of my story. Most people don't even know it, not even my good friends. I have two friends, I think that know it, but a lot of my friends don't even realize that that's a part of my story.

Chuck:

Wow. So sometimes people do so much and we're not satisfied within ourselves, and then we hit that brick wall, yes. And then we have that moment where why am I doing this? What am I doing? You know what I'm saying? Right, yeah, right, wow, that's deep. Yeah, that's deep Coming through that and like deep yeah, it's deep coming through that and like I say you never know who's listening, who's going through that right now.

Sherita Parks:

What would you say to a person that you see yourself in them? Now, you know what would you say to that person? I would tell that young man, a young woman who is in that similar place, that they are absolutely loved and accepted just the way they are, you know, by God. He doesn't have any expectations of you having to become perfect for you to come to him. He accepts and loves you just the way you are and he, absolutely. He created us in his image and we have his mind.

Sherita Parks:

So even when the world tells you you got, you know, adhd or you have autism or you have whatever the label, is that the world places on people that tells them you're not well in some area of your life, you're obese, you're not well, you're emotional, you're too sensitive, you are not well. You know it's so many messages that we hear just looking at TV, you get those, all those messages Right but that you're loved and accepted by God, no matter what Like, even if nobody in the world tells you that I like it. That's what I would tell them.

Chuck:

I love that. I love that.

Sherita Parks:

Yeah.

Chuck:

It's so many layers that you have to break through sometimes to get to that place to really accept the fact that God loves you just the way you are. Because sometimes we go through so much trauma in life. You know you got to break through layers and layers to get to that place where you say OK, I am loved and that trauma is big. Yeah absolutely.

Sherita Parks:

A lot of people think trauma is you're the girl who was raped at the age of seven, or you're the person who was bullied in school every day, or you know you whatever you know. We think of the big things but, depending on the person, trauma can be just about anything and things affect people differently. Yeah, about anything and things affect people differently. But it still can be trauma because it's an area of dysfunction or an absence of wholeness and well-being that is within you, and the only person who can fix that is God. And we run after all these. You know, do this and do yoga and do you know meditation, and you know I'm not saying that all of those things are. You know, some of those things I wouldn't practice myself personally, but we chase after the stuff, the things that we call wellness, and it really the foundation of it all is Christ and your relationship with him.

Chuck:

Wow, wow. So those things fix the outside of a person yep, they sure do.

Sherita Parks:

Yep, I learned that last year real quick. I went through my um tumor scare and was told, you know, with 98 chance that it was cancer by multiple doctors and you know, we just gonna get the tumor out and then we'll talk about what kind of you know immunotherapy or whatever you need. And that was all you know. They were very matter of fact about all of it. And that was last year, even before I got the diagnosis was when God really really started to deal with me and show me more of who he was making me into. He had already kind of begun, I had already started the journey of wellness, but it's been really, really slow and I don't like that. But you know, maybe it's the ADHD, but I like to get things done quick.

Sherita Parks:

And I'm like, lord, I got my doctorate in 2020. I see all these people doing all these things, yada, yada, yada, and everybody in their mama is a wellness coach now and I'm like, okay, all right, lord, what are we going to do now? And he was like, look, your journey is a journey. I didn't call you to this to just teach it or coach people based on a textbook model of coaching. I want you to be well and I want to take you through this journey and show you some nuggets about well-being that you're not going to get from the world's definition of wellness. Right, and that's what he's been doing.

Chuck:

Wow. So it's like kind of experiencing it yourself. So it's just a lot of stuff yourself. So it just means a lot of stuff you say, but it's a lot of stuff you've lived and experienced.

Sherita Parks:

Yes, absolutely. You know. It started with the physical fitness and really into exercise and doing all those things. And I wasn't.

Sherita Parks:

I was obese at one time in my life as well, and back in 2004, I got diabetes. My father had just died of diabetic complications. I was terrified, I'm not going to lie to you, and at that point I decided to have gastric bypass surgery because I had read that some French doctors had done these studies and it showed that 85% of the people in their studies were cured of their diabetes or greatly reduced their medications just by having the Rue and Y gastric bypass, because they're taking out a part of your intestines. So I said, is this real? Like they haven't lost any weight yet? And so I kept reading and I'm a researcher by nature. I think that's why I did well in the doctoral program, despite my challenges.

Sherita Parks:

But I had the surgery in 2005. The day of surgery, when I got back to the room in recovery, mind you, I was taking a lot of insulin and I was on metformin before surgery, and from the time the surgery was completed, I haven't had to have any medication since, and that's been since 2005. So God is God, used that to bring healing to my body in that area. But since then I've developed a real love and a passion for health and being grateful for the gift that he gave me and not taking it for granted. I will not, lord Jesus, please, I will not be one of those people who, you know, get the surgery and then just continue with the bad habits and gain all the weight back. But I know that that is something a lot of people struggle with gain all the weight back. But I know that that is something a lot of people struggle with. But for me, you know, he's had me walk through this journey so I could maybe bless and help other people.

Chuck:

So how do you see yourself now? Like you feel like you're past where you were, you're growing.

Sherita Parks:

Yeah, I am, I am, I am renewed, I am free, I feel.

Sherita Parks:

Last year I went through a lot of different layers of deliverance.

Sherita Parks:

Um, I had to kind of renounce some things then, pledges and things that I had made in my life that um didn't honor god, because, you know, his word tells us that you should have no other god before me. And then that that goes across the board any kind of idols in our life, um, you know, and you know an idol can be social media, you know it can be anything. So he just kind of idols in our life, and you know an idol can be social media, you know it can be anything. So he just kind of peeled back the layers of all of that and I just fell in love with his word, like I had never, ever done before. And I think, because I was able to lay down those things that were idols and remove those things from my life, that the Lord was like okay, now I've got something, I've got good soil, I can work through all of these things that you have been trying to figure out all your life, and it just happened with ease, you know. So I praise God for that too.

Chuck:

Wow, I love that because again, you never know who's listening and you give somebody, somebody's hope. So when you talk about your journey and you coming out, you give other people hope that may be listening and you're like, hey, I can't get out of this, I'm depressed, I'm going through so much because of my past, but you're growing, you're steady. Get into a place where you're happy. You know what I'm saying?

Sherita Parks:

Yeah, and it's a journey for anybody you know, and you know what I'm saying. Yeah, and it's a journey for anybody you know and you know so many people are. You know we've got this cancel culture and everybody is telling the truth no love there whatsoever. And um, I I have been hesitant about sharing some details in a public platform, so to speak, about some of the deliverance work, because I never want people to feel like I'm coming from a place of judgment, because I was once there myself and the Lord had to show me these things. It wasn't somebody telling me, you know, he revealed it.

Sherita Parks:

So I think we as Christians sometimes try to fix people and tell them what they should be doing, and I just that approach. For me God doesn't do that. I mean, we have his word as a guy, but he never forces us into anything. So that's what I love about coaching so much You're not telling people what to do, You're helping them come to the revelation of themselves, what their issues are, what their challenges are, why they have an extra hundred pounds. You know they usually come in starting off with some health goal and then halfway into it, they recognize that, wow, I can't even begin to address this until I get all these other things addressed. You know their eyes are open. It's a beautiful thing to see too.

Chuck:

Wow, you talk about wholeness. You have your LLC, the Be Well Leadership LLC. Talk about that. That's a great segue.

Sherita Parks:

Yes, yes, okay, so that is my company Initially. It's funny, when I first came up with the name Be Well Leadership, it wasn't a coaching business, it was more of a leadership consultation workshops. I do still do those things and I'm passionate about helping small businesses and nonprofits. Look at the domain in which they work. So you know you may be working towards ending human trafficking or homelessness, but being able to show them how their work is tied up into this whole system of things. You know community organizations, government. You know people that have things going on that are helping the homeless and that they cannot continue to work in silos because when they do that they hinder the level of great outcomes that they can have. They hinder the level of great outcomes that they can have. So when people begin to see that, oh, what I'm doing over here is affecting this group and what they're doing affects me, and we can't be in competition with one another, we need to see how all of these things are connected and tied together and then we can really see true change. So that's the systems dynamics.

Sherita Parks:

Part of my doctorate was in strategic leadership, but I had a focus in systems dynamics and healthcare as well. So I like to show organizations, especially nonprofits, how their work impacts and can be a leverage for change in people's lives, not just a band-aid. You know, two years ago I kept saying I want to coach, I want to coach, I want to coach. And I said I can coach, I don't have to get any special training for it. I've got my doctorate. Everybody's all impressed by titles and letters behind or in front of your name. So I was like I can do it without that.

Sherita Parks:

And I kept hearing Laura say you need to, you need to get some training in this because it's different from what you think. And so I went and I got my well coaches, health and wellness certification. And then I got the additional layer of certification for lifestyle medicine and lifestyle management. So that enabled me to really learn about the psychology of behavior change and what things we do naturally, especially in how we communicate, that prevent people from actually changing. And I was like, wow, I don't even know if I know anybody that doesn't do this, you know. So I had to really learn how to alter my way of communicating, because I'm a nerd, I know a little bit about everything. Anybody that knows me would tell you Lord Jesus, she'll talk your head off if you get her on a topic that she's interested in and learn how to not be a teller but to listen and to learn how to ask.

Chuck:

Got you.

Sherita Parks:

I say Holy spirit led questions. Okay, the questions are everything got you and that's what gets people to see their stuff. You know wow, wow.

Chuck:

I love your passion, I love what you're doing. You know, helping others become absolutely, you're welcome, become whole and giving them hope. Giving them hope letting them know there's a brighter day. So, the things you do. That's the things you do in terms of your work, right, yeah, okay, I love this quote by Dr Howard Thurman. Since you're a doctor, I love this quote. It says don't ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and go do it, because what the world needs is people who come alive.

Sherita Parks:

What makes you come?

Chuck:

alive outside of that routine that you do every day.

Sherita Parks:

What makes me come alive is family, and I don't say that from a place of having the perfect family. We have our challenges, but I really love family. I love my family, but also what comes, what makes me come alive, is always having that pursuit, not from a place of legalism or, you know, perfectionism, but that pursuit to be the best woman of God that I can be for the Lord and seeking him every day. What areas do you want me to tweak, lord? What do I have wrong? What's what's what in my mind and my thinking needs to shift, lord? Where are the toxic areas that I still need to work on? Because we all have them and that helps me come alive, because it helps me to help and see other people.

Sherita Parks:

And I see brokenness in leaders every day. You know, just turn on the TV and even the best leaders we have so many pastors and prophets and everybody's fighting and everybody is, you know, in competition and trying to make money off of the gospel, and it's just. I just see dysfunction there in a lot of cases, not everybody, but I just have a heart to see leaders become well, because it affects everything they do, every person that they speak to and every outcome that they want to see. And you know they're working from a place of having trauma still trapped in their bodies, you know, and in their soul, and they stuff it and they don't. A lot of people don't even realize it.

Chuck:

Good term. You said stuff it.

Sherita Parks:

You know, I ask people a question and all of a sudden they're moved to tears and they get choked up and they've got a pause and these are leader. Leaders, you know, like leaders that are doing a great job for the Lord. But we all have that stuff that's not completely, you know, dealt with. Yeah, so that that makes me come alive, helping people to get past that that's deep.

Chuck:

You talked about leaders when you asked them that question, because some people don't ask the leader. Are you okay?

Sherita Parks:

They don't. You know what I mean? Nope, and if you ask the right question, it makes the person feel seen. That is the most important thing. I rarely feel seen. You know what I mean. That's a sad thing to say, but it's true. Most people don't really know me and I think we as a people don't really take the time to see each other. We are full of narcissistic traits that only see we, only see ourselves, what we, we want, what we're not getting. We have young people who are entitled. They only see their need, me, me, me, me, me and everybody else is just a tool to get what we want. Steps, and that is sad. It really is. Yeah yeah.

Chuck:

So when you said that, you know people want to be seen too. So when you ask somebody the right question, how are you, how was your day? Like you said, we can feel heard, so that's big.

Sherita Parks:

Yeah, especially for leaders, because they usually suffer in silence and they really can't. They really can't be transparent with everybody because you know it's going to affect their ministry or their calling in ways. I know I've experienced that personally. I can't just be transparent with everybody and I'm a really kind, nice person and people always want to get close to me and be my friend and I have this very limited capacity because I'm an introvert first of all, why ask you, what are you?

Chuck:

an introvert?

Sherita Parks:

I'm an introvert. Okay, explain that. So my capacity for friends is quality over quantity. And it's a struggle because I am a kind, nice person and I feel like people like well, she don't want to get close to me, why she don't? I want to be her friend, you know. And it's like I have to be led by God because my definition of friendship is different from from some people's definition of friendship. It's not going out to have brunch on Saturdays and talking on the phone every day. I'm a very, very busy person. My real close friends are women who pray for me, who discern from the Lord about me. When I don't even tell them anything, they're like what's up? You know what's going on and I'm not going to right. They know, but it's because we've known each other for years and years. We've been able to build that relationship over years and I am a very slow builder when it comes to Well, I guess it goes back to building myself and building friendships and relationships.

Sherita Parks:

So I don't just jump into stuff.

Chuck:

Let me ask you this you say you're an introvert and you talked about you prefer quality over quantity. Explain that because that was powerful. Talk about that.

Sherita Parks:

Yeah, so I'm the person and a lot of, and there's nothing wrong with being an extrovert, ok, wrong with being an extrovert.

Sherita Parks:

But an extrovert can go into a party, a room with you know a hundred people, 50 people, 20 people, and work the room, have small talk with people you know and ask the questions and just kind of have that uh, low surface level conversation with ease Me as an introvert I have no interest in talking small talk. Yeah, no, that's not my jam and I have to be careful because it can come off as rude.

Sherita Parks:

So I've learned to kind of navigate that when I am amongst a crowd larger than three three but I get drained really easily when, in the presence of um a lot of people and sometimes a few people, depending on how the other people are wired my husband and I both I are both introverts, if you can imagine that people say opposites attract well for us. Um, the sameness in us, um attracted us. We could sit in a room and not say a word. We were fine during COVID. We were like, oh, we ain't gonna go nowhere. Okay, we got food in the house. We got toilet paper. Okay, all right, we good we ain't gotta go nowhere.

Sherita Parks:

We were good. But yeah, I need to take moments to just kind of regroup. I love solitude like nobody's business. I love solitude Like nobody's business. I love solitude. That's like, oh man, I love solitude and people are like what? You want to sit in the house by yourself? Yes, I will sit in this house with a good book and a cup of coffee or tea and some music playing in the background of my book open or Bible open or whatever, and I'm good, I want to listen, I want to enjoy just being in quiet sometimes. So some people don't get that, but that's me.

Chuck:

I love that. I like it. Solitude Peace.

Sherita Parks:

Yep, and protecting your knowing who you are. You know that goes back to that identity. There's nothing wrong with me. I'm just wired a little differently and this is how God created me. So I need to play up to my strengths. You know and understand, and I need that time to pull away and enjoy solitude and not have too many folks in my world.

Chuck:

That is part of me taking care of myself and being well, not you being funny, it's just you, just no, it isn't yeah yeah, but it's taken that way a lot.

Sherita Parks:

You know it's like I don't want to talk on the phone, I just don't. You know, even my good close friends that are quality friendships. They know they're like, okay, we're getting that. They used to joke and say I would give them the once-a-year phone call. I have gotten better, they got to come find you yeah. But when we have a conversation on the phone, we having a conversation Got you. It's not a small talk.

Chuck:

Got you, wow. Who are three influential people in your life right now, or have been in the past, that you could talk about?

Sherita Parks:

Sure, my husband. Well, I'm going to say Jesus Christ first. Okay, jesus Christ, by all means. First, um, my faith is everything and without it I wouldn't be the person that I am or the person that I'm becoming. And second, I would say my husband, because he has seen me when no one else has seen me. He encourages me to push beyond my comfort zone, even though I can't push him.

Sherita Parks:

Sometimes I'm like well, you got the same challenges as me. You're an introvert too. But he does a good job with saying look, you can do this. You know the Lord told you to do this, that you need to go head on and get that doctorate. And I'm like I don't know if I want to go back to school, but I don't know if I can do a doctorate. You know, I had all the excuses and he gently pushes me because he know if you push me too much I'm gonna shut down um.

Sherita Parks:

And then the third person both my parents, but my father in particular, because he was an introvert, but my dad was all throughout his life. He was always setting goals. He always had a heart to. He was, you know, the Boy Scout leader. I don't know, were you in his Boy Scout troop I think it was an older, a little bit older guys, yep, and he went. He was a shy man, a quiet man. So I remember when he joined Toastmasters and he took me to a couple of meetings with him and he was just kind of building his confidence with speaking. This was before he became a pastor, but he always was kind of doing that self-reflection and being intentional about working on himself as a husband, a father, a community leader, pastor, you know, later in life, and that really influenced me a lot. I think about him a lot when I'm doing my work.

Chuck:

Wow, that's deep, amazing as we close. If you could go back to talk to your younger self, sharita, to prepare her for now, what would you share with her?

Sherita Parks:

I would share with her that, again, this goes back to there's nothing wrong with you. Your uniqueness is your gift and that, although other people may say, oh, you are this or you aren't this, or you need to do this and you need to do that, you need to do this and you need to do that, I would tell her that there's always going to be people and there's always going to be things and messages and things that will come your way, but that the only voice you need to pay attention to is the voice of God pay attention to is the voice of God and also, I'll add, that voice within yourself that says you know, as soon as that negative thought comes up, that you know why do you have to spend two hours to get this done?

Sherita Parks:

You're not enough, you can't do that. I would tell her to stop that voice in its tracks and say just the opposite, because we, we know that we are more spiritual than we are physical and those voices that come to us with those negative words, those are lies from the enemy. You know, well-meaning parents that love us dearly have placed those you know mindsets in us because of what they? You know how they were raised.

Sherita Parks:

And you know they. They were the first generation to go to college and to achieve things and to be a homeowner, so there was a lot of trauma and and and being first. You know there's a certain mentality of being the first in your family. You have these expectations and sometimes you do more harm than good. I see some of that even in my own parenting with my child. You know all good things in my mind but you know his path and his journey is different from my path and the next person's path and his journey is different from my path and the next person's path. So I would just encourage young people to not believe the lies and, if you can, affirmations, but in particular affirmations that are based on the word of God. I think I got a book already written with that. I need to just get it published. But just affirm yourself with the truth over and over and over again, because what you say to yourself, what you say out loud and internally, is what you're going to become.

Chuck:

Yeah, truly it is. The words are powerful.

Sherita Parks:

Yes, they really are. It's like a seed you know you're planting. You know, either seeds of destruction or seeds of life. So be, careful with your words.

Chuck:

Wow, you're an amazing person, dr Sherita Parks.

Sherita Parks:

Thank you so much. I'm Sherita Sherita.

Chuck:

Sherita Parks.

Sherita Parks:

I am Sherita Parks. Yes, absolutely I enjoyed this conversation. Same here.

Chuck:

Yeah, I really enjoyed it. I love to have those genuine conversations just to hear a person's story, because I believe that a that a person's journey is not just for them sometimes, but it's somebody who's going through the same thing that they can find encouragement through what you've already going through. You know in your life, yeah that you could reach back and pull somebody else up.

Sherita Parks:

Yep, that's always the goal, yeah. So I really appreciate, you Can't do it on your own, absolutely I.

Chuck:

Yeah, so I really do it on your own, Absolutely.

Sherita Parks:

I appreciate you too, brother.

Chuck:

Absolutely. That's why you're a life coach. That's why you're a coach. Yes, I'm a coach Coach for leaders. Yeah, yeah. So thank you so much for being a part of let's Just Talk About it podcast. This won't be the last time.

Sherita Parks:

All right Great, all right Thank you.

Chuck:

Thank you. Wow, what an amazing conversation. Shout out to Sharita for having this dialogue with me. You know Sharita shared so many amazing things in our conversation today, but one of the nuggets of wisdom that stuck out to me was when she said that she would tell her younger self that your uniqueness is your gift, because so many times as human beings we seek out to imitate someone else's uniqueness. Because so many times as human beings we seek out to imitate someone else's uniqueness, not even realizing that our own uniqueness is more than enough to be great in a big world. So thank you, sharita, for that wisdom. Again, thank you so much for tuning in to let's Just Talk About it podcast, and please check out my website. Just Google let's Just Talk About it podcast dot com and then hit that subscribe button to receive all the new episodes every Friday. You can also find me on Facebook. Just type in Chuck L-J-T-A-I, which means let's just talk about it. So, as always, until next time, don't hold it in, but let's just talk about it. Talk to you soon, you.