Am I being Authentic?

Authenticity

When am I being authentic?

Authenticity is aligned with integrity and integrity is walking your talk. And it is more than that.

 To be authentic relates to how we allow ourselves to be seen and experienced by others.

 To be authentic calls us to face our fears. If you have ever been stopped by fear, check out my dear friend, Lee Teresa Lott’s new book, The True Power Strategy. You will never be stopped by fear after reading her story!

   I remember when I was a little girl my mother would take my hand and run across the busy road, dodging cars and bikes and trucks, all the time yelling, “Do as I say, Not as I do.” She was always in a hurry. No wonder it has taken me almost a life time to learn the true meaning of authenticity. We cannot expect of students, children, spouses, or friend to be authentic with us us unless we are. It is just the way energy works.

Unconditional Light-heartedness

Having claimed  that I travel at the speed of light heartedness I ask myself what does that really mean? For me it means I AM unconditional Light Heartedness. That my spirit shines most brightly when I am light-hearted. Regardless of the situation, when I stand in unconditional light-heartedness,  I hold a lightness of being.  It means that whatever occurs that is out of my control, I trust that ultimately it is for the highest good of all, even though with my human eyes I often cannot even imagine what that might be.

Sometime  we forget who we are

It means that when I remember that I have just forgotten who I am I can forgive myself immediately and begin again. It means I can laugh at myself without judging myself. It means I laugh often. It means that I know the most valuable things, objects, in my life, are not really valuable at all, but merely illusions of value. If I  lose my phone, or break an antique plate, or burn a hole in a silk shirt being authentic means that I know it doesn’t matter and I believe and behave accordingly. None of these things really matter. Can I still be light hearted when someone cuts in front of me on the road, or blames me for something I didn’t do, or demeans my work? Can I still be light hearted when my child is ill, or disrespectful or someone I love passes over?

We make it all up

Being light hearted certainly does not mean being flippant, dismissive, indifferent or glib. Certainly not.  It simply means that the values we place on all these things are of our own creation. We make up the value of everything. We make up our attitudes. We make up our beliefs. In the past we may have been told it is wasteful to throw food away, or rainy days are not as good as sunny days, or getting drunk with mates is a good thing to do. At some point in our lives however, we forget that we choose to believe what we have been told, without questioning whether they still hold truth for us.

Questioning our judgment, our attitudes our beliefs is authenticity in action.

 An unexamined life is not worth living~ Socrates

So am I being authentic?

If I was to say sometimes, I would really be avoiding the truth. Sometimes, means not all the time. Not all the time means no.We cannot claim to be who we say we are, if half the time we are suffering from amnesia. We cannot be in integrity if we do not walk our talk. However, ( thank goodness for  ‘however’) we can be who we say we are if we put our intentions into action. My intention for this year is to live in authenticity and so the question ‘Am I being authentic now?” is one I  have and will continue to  ask myself. And, if the answer is no, (and it has been) then reminding myself  that who I am is unconditional light heartedness instantly brings me back to myself.

Intentions without action are like clouds in the sky

They may look beautiful when you see them, you may ever see gorgeous images of  dragons or  rabbits or  elephants carved into the infinite blue canopy, however, you will forget what you saw in a day or a week unless you take some action. A photo, a drawing, a poem …

So who are you?

You are who you choose to be. You may choose to be unconditional loving kindness or unconditional social justice, or community consciousness, or gentle knowing. What ever you choose it will resonate in every aspect of your life. If it doesn’t, if it is only present in some aspects of your life, it is time to enter into an enquiry. Who am I being now? Whatever you choose, hold that truth in your heart and know that is who you are.

This is the year of manifesting our intentions and to do that we need to take action. Even one small action a day makes the world of difference.

 

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