Authentic You

There comes a time in your life when you have to just say you’ve had enough. You’ve had enough of being disrespected, enough of not being important and frankly, just enough of not living with authenticity. We become trapped in a life filled with people, things and situations that aren’t true to who we are supposed to be. But how do we get to the point where we are living life with authenticity? How do you define authenticity? Authenticity can be defined as: the quality of being authentic.

But what does being ‘authentic’ mean. To be authentic is: to be of undisputed origin; genuine.

By using both of those definitions we can come to the conclusion that authenticity is the quality of being genuine, but what does that mean? Especially in regard to living an authentic life. What does it mean to be genuine? We live in a world that is full of the now and the me. We take things for granted, we demand what we want because we think we deserve it (without having earned or worked for it) and on top of that, often what it is that we demand isn’t to enhance our lives, but rather to show everyone else that we have it all. We work to have a bigger house, a better vehicle, go more places and see more things. But for all these wants and working to keep up, are we happy?

Going back to looking at what living an authentic life might be, let’s take a minute to explore what living a genuine life of authenticity might mean. Could we say that living an authentic life might mean that we are living a happy life; maybe one that feels fulfilling in every sense of the word fulfilled?

When I think of genuine, the words that come to my mind are: true, real, authentic, honest. Genuine can be defined as: truly what something is said to be; authentic.

By that definition, living an authentic or genuine life means to live a life that is what we say it is. If we act happy, shouldn’t we actually be happy; if we act as though we can afford something, shouldn’t we actually be able to afford it; if we act satisfied with our life situation shouldn’t be actually be satisfied with it; if we strive to work toward something, shouldn’t we actually want what it is we are striving for?

Living an authentic life means to live a genuine life. Living a life that is genuine means to be true to yourself. What does that mean? It’s different for everyone. For me, being authentic and genuine to myself means to demand the respect I’ve been too scared to ask for before now; it means that I’m going to stand up for what I believe and fight for the injustices I see in the world. For me, being true to myself means no longer settling: no longer accepting half-efforts as true efforts, partial truths as honesty and unsaid apologies as admissions of wrong doings. It means trusting my intuition, listening to my heart and using my brain to make decisions. It means setting goals and accomplishing dreams.

Your life probably looks very different than mine, just as my past looks different than yours, but there is one thing we can all be consistent on: when we are more authentic with ourselves and for ourselves, the life we live will become genuine. We won’t be looking somewhere else to feel complete, we won’t be asking someone else to fill us, we won’t be working to catch up or keep up. We will be living to be true, be real, be me and you. Authenticity will allow us to finally just be. And that is freedom.

Related posts:

This past week was the inaugural Virtual Medicine Conference at Cedars Sinai in Los Angeles. This two-day event, focused on the use of Virtual Reality in healthcare, brought together a wide range of…

While talking to my daughter, I asked her if she would like to join me on a W — A — L — K. A pause interrupted the conversation and then she asked, “Mom, why did you just spell walk?” I explained…

With each passing second, minute, hour and day, December is about to end, January is about to begin, And so is a new beginning, Waiting at the other end.