S.O.S.: Be Authentically You!

What a week! Between a death in the neighborhood, sickness, and anxiety attacks.... I am just glad it is the weekend! And I am glad to be sitting here with you right now, blogging and sipping on my coffee.

This morning, I was hit with a thought that pierced me all the way deep into my inner being. And usually when this happens I find that it isn't solely just for me. It is for you as well. And it is simple really.

Be Authentically You 

Yep. One sentence. Be authentically you! Sadly though not many of us know what this means let alone how to do it.

Authentic is defined as not false or copied, being genuine and real. In a world of cookie cutter homes, mirror careers, and the desperate need to find acceptance from something outside of ones self, our true authentic self can be lost in the shuffle.

I see it, hear it, and have experienced the emptiness of ones soul because they have chosen to embark on a journey that invites them to simply live as they are told ~ not as they are able to experience it. Oh my gosh, I am sure that made no sense! Let me see if I word it a bit differently. If you were to follow in the footsteps of someone and only did what they did, a part of you ~ the real you will die. It will not have anything to encourage it to thrive. Gifts that you would be able to share with the world, that might just change not only you, but a whole generation would be lost. Words that would heal hurts and hearts would never be whispered, written, sang, or preached. Generational curses would never be broken. And sadly, your impact on the world (the reason you were created in the first place) would be lost and void.

So many of us though have no idea how to be authentic anymore as we have been living under the wishes and wants of society for far too long. While I can't give you all the answers you are going to need to put together that puzzle, I do pray that I can give you a good start.

1. Know who you are. 
What do you stand for? What are your habits (good and bad)? (Not what you want them to be, but what they are right  now.) These will tell you the deepest root of you. Embrace them. Understand them.

2. Know what your gifts are. 
Are you gifted in teaching? (Do you know even if you do not have a degree the best teachers are the ones who teach by gift. I can tell you ... there are more non gifted teachers out there right now than gifted ones.)Are you gifted in working with your hands? What about building a community? These are the things that make you different from your best friend, your spouse, even your own mother. We are not all created to do the same thing in this life, nor should be told that we are.

3. Know what goals you want to set in your life. 
Goal setting is huge. Goal setting and achieving will display your deepest true character of you, not only to you but to the world. Sadly, I know too many people who are afraid to make goals because they don't' want to fail. Not setting goals, already makes one a failure. It's not the achieving them that makes you a success in this world, it is the process in setting and doing the work in achieving them. The process itself is a journey that cannot be replaced by anything else. In reality, whether you want to admit it or not ... not setting goals is a form of setting goals. You say you do not want to fail, so you choose not to set a goal. Well, in short you set a goal to stay the same, and you achieved it. You basically succeeded in staying the same, staying stagnant, remaining complacent.

Quotes to encourage you!

"Goals are not only absolutely necessary to motivate us. They are essential to really keep us alive." ~ Robert H. Schuller

"People with clear written goals, accomplish far more in a shorter period of time than people without them could ever imagine." ~ Brian Tracy

"If you aim at nothing ~ you will hit it every time!" ~ Zig Zigler

"A goal is a dream with a deadline." ~ Napoleon Hill

Never, never, never let someone condemn you or make you feel guilty for truly being the authentic person you are. If your life does not like up with theirs or their own desires take a breath and understand we are not all on the same journey in this life. Some of us are here to be world changers, and if we just keep doing what we know to do, eventually the world around us will change. But to let you in on a little secret, if you hide your authentic self the world around you will change too but it will not be as it was intended to be for you. Don't rob yourself, or others of that experience!