Who Is Alicia Jessop?

The neat thing about having a website, is you can see what search terms someone used to get to it.  Today, someone got here by searching, “Who is Alicia Jessop?”  Initially, when I read this, I laughed.  However, after thinking about it for a couple of seconds, I thought, “That is a really good question!”  Who am I?

I’m pretty convinced that one’s mid-20s are some of the weirdest, most difficult and confusing years of life.  I am searching more for my identity right now than I was when I was battling through puberty.  And the truth of the matter is, most of my friends are too.  If you looked at my computer screen right now, you’d see me playing counselor via GChat conversations between me and three of my closest friends.  Each one has a different issue they are trying to sort out in their own lives:  work, love, children.  We are all trying to figure out who we are.

So, I think it was perfect timing, maybe serendipity if you will, that some stranger typed into a search engine, “Who is Alicia Jessop?”  I think it was the perfect question, because it is something I needed to answer for myself today.

Alicia Jessop is someone who prides herself on giving the most of herself to others.  She is a devoted daughter.  She is a constant confidant to friends.  She is a mentor to many.  She is a smile to a stranger.

Alicia Jessop is someone who wears her heart on her sleeve.  She is someone who believes in old-fashioned love and values.  She is someone who will cross the street to help someone she sees in need.  She is someone who will tell you how she feels and you know that it is coming from a place of truth.

Alicia Jessop is someone who subscribes to the belief that one can do anything they set their mind to.  She knows that hard work can take you places you never imagined.  She knows that when you give yourself fully to others, you will get everything you gave and more back.  She is someone who is determined to get the most out of this life and make the most out of what’s been given to her. 

Alicia Jessop is someone who lives her life by faith.  She is someone who utilizes her choices to demonstrate the commitment she has made to Christ.  She is someone who follows the golden rule.  She is a person who doesn’t judge people for what they’ve done, but loves them for who they are.

Alicia Jessop is someone who has a zest for life.  She is someone who is unafraid to sing karaoke.  She is the person who gets the laughs rolling at the party.  She is the friend you call when you have a crazy story to share–and expect her to have one just as good.

Alicia Jessop is someone whose name means “truth.”  She is someone who if she says it, you know you can believe it.  She is someone who doesn’t believe in sugar-coating things or niceties for the sake of being nice.  She is someone who believes in laying everything on the line for the things and people who are important to her.

I think the reason why many people my age have such a hard time defining who we are, is because we secretly are aware that there is so much more to life.  Many of us are at this juncture where life really is just beginning.  Most of us don’t own houses.  Some of us still haven’t met “The One.”  Lots of us haven’t seen the faces of our children. 

I know that for many of my friends and I, we let our unwillingness to define our identity get caught up in this minutiae of what we don’t have or what we haven’t accomplished yet.  However, I realized today how unfair that is.  Each of us on this planet is somebody to someone.  We do things that nobody else does in ways that nobody else can.  It’s sad, but true, that it took a stranger asking a search engine, “Who is Alicia Jessop?” to remind me of this.

So, today I ask, who are you?