Authenticity - Part 2

This "Living Authentically" thing has been on my mind all week (see my previous blog post on Your Authentic Self). The conclusion that I came to was that: I'm not living authentically... and most people aren't.  

After I heard Alanis Morissette talk on Super Soul Sunday, it had me thinking lots about who I am. Truly.

She spoke about getting past the lies to the place where there is only truth. These lies that we tell ourselves usually come in the form of:

I'm not worthy.

I'm not valuable. 

My work is not valuable. 

I have nothing to offer. 

I'm not good enough. 

We wear a mask so others don't see what is really going on; not being straight forward with ourselves. Perhaps we are doing things that don't resonate with who we are, but do them to please others, save face, and to keep the facade going. When really, we are crumbling inside. 

When I speak of the authentic self, I'm not talking about the personality, or how we 'always' are when around others.

That is not the authentic self. Those things have to do with behaviours and beliefs that were instilled in us. That is your ego. That's the stuff we identify ourselves with, but are not who we really are. 

For me, it was a moment of realization: I'm not being authentic to me. I'm not doing those things that I resonate with. I'm not being true to who I am. I am not being true to where I want to go in this life experience. I'm not being authentic with others. I do things to make other people feel better at the cost of myself feeling worse. 

This happens in love relationships too: we adjust our behaviour to impress or accommodate. We lose ourselves. We tell ourselves that our needs do not need to be met. Our opinions aren't as important. Our time is not important. Our dreams are not important. 

We stop trusting our own guidance. We stop believing in our self worth. We stop believing in our own abilities.  We stop believing that we are this amazing being that can create worlds.

Have you been living authentically?

What lies have you told yourself? 

Keep shining, Beautiful Souls. 

Your Inner Being

Your inner being always knows.

It knows when something isn't right. It knows when a change needs to be made. It knows when you are longing for more, and it knows that you deserve more.

It knows your deepest wishes and it knows you can have them if you are willing to receive them.

Your inner being can always be trusted because it is certain. You can feel it. It feels like knowing. It feels unwavering. If feels stable and secure.

The only time it wavers is when you doubt the feeling; when you doubt that knowing.

"Inner silence promotes clarity of mind. It makes us value the inner world; It trains us to go inside to the source of peace and inspiration when we are faced with problems and challenges."

~ Deepak Chopra

Get in touch with your inner being by getting quiet. Meditate. Get rid of the excess noise and chit-chat in your mind, and get to the place where you can ignore ego.
If you aren't quiet within, if you cannot find peace, you are still in a place of ego.  You want to go to that place where peace, love and knowingness reside. That is the place of your inner being.

Listen to the deep inner awareness of yourself, Beautiful Souls. That is where the good stuff is.

Namaste!

Your Authentic Self

In this world of trying to impress others with our beauty, talent, and intelligence, what we really are longing for is to be loved. To be validated. To feel our worth.

However, we fail to do one important thing: Be true to ourselves. Be authentic. Be who we really are.

Don’t misunderstand me: there is nothing wrong with making a first impression; but make sure that the first impression is who you truly are, and the only way you can do this is by knowing who you really are. 

True beauty is the light that shines from within; and before you think that this is all fluffy crap, keep in mind that everything is energy/vibration. When we are attracted to someone, we are attracted to the frequency of that person because it is a match to ours. If you are not being loving to yourself, and don't respect yourself, you will attract someone who will reflect that back onto you.

So, what is being our 'authentic selves'? Being unabashedly who we are. Not putting on a show to impress, but letting our natural light shine and radiate out for the world to see. It means knowing our divine selves. It means knowing that we are love... knowing that we are worthy.
Loving every piece of our perfectly imperfect selves.

Be your beautiful selves, Beautiful People! 

Namaste. 

Falling in Love with Someone's Potential

Have you fallen in love with someone's potential? Maybe you are in a relationship with someone who you are constantly buoying up while you feel as if you are sinking. Maybe you are with someone who makes you feel uncertain about where the relationship is headed. Or, maybe you feel frustrated because you are not getting the relationship that you deserve. If this is the case, ask yourself, 'Why am I holding on?'

Certainly, you can say that you are staying for love, because love is the greatest thing of all! But, are you loving yourself enough? You are sacrificing a lot for someone who is unwilling to put 100% into a relationship with you. You have shown up, but they haven't. Basically, you've been stood up.

Ask yourself again why you would stick around when you have been stood up so many times? It's like asking someone for 2 $10s to change a $20 and you only get 1 $10 back.

You can't be their saviour. You can't make them become something that you want. You can guide them, but you can't make them walk through the door. That is entirely up to them. 

Don't get me wrong, if the relationship is slowly progressing, then definitely keep moving forward. However, when there is little to no progress, and you begin to question the validity of the relationship, then it's time to re-evaluate. 

If you've seen the movie Bridget Jones' Diary, you'll remember the scene just after Mark Darcy and Daniel Cleaver fight each other in the street. 

Darcy leaves, while Cleaver, still lying on the ground, says to Bridget Jones, "Come on Bridget, we belong together - you, me, poor little skirt. If I can't make it with you, then I can't make it with anyone."

And Bridget, in that moment, comes to a very clear realization of exactly the type of relationship she's had with Daniel, and says, "That's not a good enough offer for me."

Is it a good enough offer for you? 

Namaste, Lovely Souls!

Healing the Past

The past likes to take a hold of us and make us relive it, in all its glory, in our minds and hearts. If it's a good memory, then we are golden. We love every minute of it because we can get into a good place while reminiscing, making our hearts burst with happiness and joy.

Then, there are things from the past that we regret, that we wish we could change. We relive those memories with remorse, beating ourselves up time and again.
Why didn't I do what I should have done? 
Why did I say that? 
Why was I so stupid?

There is this constant dialogue, usually on a daily basis, about how we could have done something differently; how we could have not hurt that person. Or, why did we waste so much time on trying to impress someone, make someone happy, when it ended badly? So many regrets of things we cannot change.

What burden have you been carrying for a long time? Has it served you? Has it helped you at all? If you have been hanging onto a past burden, and it has not propelled you forward allowing you to live happily and joyfully, then it is time to let it go. Adversity should only be a small portion of our brilliant lives. We should acknowledge the contrast as an opportunity for more growth, not as an excuse to beat ourselves up for the rest of our lives.

You can't change the past. The events that occurred have already happened. You can wish them undone, but it will always be. However, you can heal the past:

1) Send love to those you feel you've hurt. No need for excuses. Just send love.
2) Send love to the situation.
3) Realize in every moment you are making yourself better and better. The contrasting experience has made you more aware of what you truly want.
4) Send love and forgiveness to yourself. No matter what has happened, you need to forgive and love yourself.
5) Realize that you did what you could with the knowledge and resources you had in that moment. We are born perfectly imperfect. We are here to grow and experience. And we will continue to grow and experience the rest of our lives. Enjoy it!
5) Look forward and take the next step. Don't look back; you aren't going that way.

Remember, what has happened in the past has made you stronger, has given you clarity, and has made you an even better person than you have ever been. Thank the past for coming along and giving you the things you have experienced.

Most importantly, thank yourself for gaining the clarity you needed to help you take the next step to where you want to go.

Just like Bagger Vance said in the Legend of Bagger Vance, "You've been carrying this burden long enough. Time to go on.... lay it down."

Lay down your burdens and keep moving forward, Beautiful Souls!

Namaste.