Authenticity

Authenticity – be true to yourself

On a recent course I attended the facilitator did a one on one introduction with each participant.  We had to stand, stretch our arms out wide, with closed eyes answer the question:  Who are you? The answer was not: “a wife, a mother, a teacher, a student or a friend” 

Would you have the answer to this question? Do you know who you are – truthfully?

We hide behind career, children and life stress, NOT to be alone with our thoughts.  When we have alone time, we find something to keep us busy instead.  Society, culture/religion and family expectations can be intimidating and overwhelming. 

Repeated criticism and abusive relationships undermine our self-worth.  Gradually we may even believe the accusations to be true.  Perceived imprisonment in a committed relationship can be destructive and with time gradually result in simply disconnecting.  

At what point do we give up trying to be true to ourselves?  When do we simply believe a situation to be hopeless?   When do we stop caring?   Finding a coping mechanism often results in harmful and damaging behaviour. 

Mostly, addiction is a gradual process, starting with a perceived coping mechanism, that eventually becomes a way of life.  Addiction takes many forms, i.e. food, pain tablets, extreme sport, sex, drugs, alcohol and so on.  As a friend reminded me:  Condemn the sin and not the sinner.

When we get lost in the maze of who we are, who we are expected to be, and believe that we will never live up to the expectations, we disconnect.  Without the life line, to that which I value within myself, we simply stop caring.  We give up on ourselves and then are able to engage in addictive behaviour.

If you wait for the right time to finally be the REAL you – that time may never come.

A true gift is the commitment to live authentically.  We need to find our own values and live life on our own terms but within and according to our own religious, cultural and social environment.  Only then can we know the hidden self and find our hopes, strengths and weaknesses that make us who we are.

Once we can be completely Truthful and Honest with ourselves, and therefore true to our Spiritual Life Path, then this will bring with it Life Joy beyond our highest imagination. 

Freedom lies in being your true AUTHENTIC self.

As the saying goes:  “There is only one life for each one of us – our own.  Just being yourself, being who you are, is a successful rebellion.”

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