Being Our Authentic Selves.................. 11/30/22

    Bumping up this post.  I wrote this seven years ago.  Most of you were not here, then. 

    Here it is: 

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      How hard, genuinely rela-ting.  Being seen for who we truly are.

      Expressing our thoughts. Scary. Saying what we feel and want. It's going on a limb. 

      Revealing what transpires within us requires emotional strength.

      Often, we fear the opinion of others.  Seeking to please, we sacrifice.  We do not reveal ourselves.  Our authentic self becomes sacrificed up-on the altar of public approval.

     We measure our status through the applause received from others.

      Frequently, our accomplishments, the power we have, and the con-trol we exert are the standards we use to judge ourselves. That's an empty and self-centered perspective.  When relating, nothing reveals more value than honesty, balanced with grace and joy.

     Do we need to lie, to stay in a relation-ship?  Of course not.  Pretending to be someone we aren't makes the relation-ship unfulfilling.  

     A preferred re-sponse requires authenticity. If we must be more than ourselves, to be ap-preciated, we bless individuals wanting a higher standard.  Better to send them on their way.  

     God's gift for us, they aren't.

     Those God sends our way love us.  As we are.  He gives them to us for free. 

      They will have our back.  I agree with the following:

We long for the feeling that we are okay just as we are.  We long to feel relaxed.  We long for the courage to live with integrity.   

We long to reconnect with our authentic self---that sense of uniqueness and originality that comes from deep inside and independent of others expectations.

When we have the courage to show up as we are, we discover that we feel more deeply connected to oth-ers.  It's paradoxical.  When we are fully expressing our one-of-a-kind selves, we also feel more kinship with all the other one-of-a-kind selves in the world. Why? Because when we are fully self-expressed, we become free of unfinished business and are able to be fully present to others.  

Self-expression leads to feeling open, available, trusting, and relaxed; all things that lead to feeling connected to others.     

                          Susan Campbell, Getting Real, 73-74 

       Work consumes me if I'm not care-ful.  Handling crises in the lives of others will deplete me if I don't nurture myself.  Pacing myself while navigating the turbu-lent waves life tosses my way, is needed.

       Despite this week's pressures, I enjoyed the peace of mind and equanimity.  I took care of my body.  Monday, I bedded at 8:00 p.m., drained, after handling intense ses-sions.