What does it mean to be authentic? In a world that is filled with superficiality, authenticity becomes lost. The very meaning of it is something that escapes many, if not most, people.
Authenticity is the ability to consistently be exactly who you are in the moment, regardless of others’ expectations of who you should be in order to make them feel more comfortable. It is staying true to what is congruent for you on your journey through life. Our interests will change over time. What is important or of interest to us in our 20’s will not necessarily be consistent with what catches our interest in our 30’s or our 40’s. Those things change. And as they change we, too, will develop within ourselves. That is all a part of growing. Some folks resist personal growth because it requires change to happen and change frightens them. But the thing is that change is going to happen anyway. Change is the only constant thing in our universe. Change is inevitable. Growth is optional. And many choose to resist growth. Personal authenticity allows for personal growth and development.
In order for that growth to happen, we cannot hold on too tightly to our personal stories. Because who we were years ago is not who we are today. And what matters most is today…this moment….right here….right now. Holding on to our stories holds us, and everyone else around us, hostage to our past. We become like a plant that is root bound. When our roots are bound too tightly we suffocate as a result. We have to learn how to allow our roots to relax. When our roots are relaxed we are able to get the proper nutrients from the soil in which we are planted. We suffocate under the bound roots of our family history…our genetics…our generational experiences.
There was a time in my life when I lived under the influence of generational fear. On both sides of my family there was history…long history…of traumas that had been suffered by my ancestors at the hands of oppression of one form or another. I was taught that I had to hide what my genetic lines were in order to stay safe. But in so doing, I was also having to hide some of the most rich and vibrant aspects of who I was. And so my roots were bound. In my late 20’s I decided to no longer hide that aspect of who I am. It is not that it is anyone’s business at all. It is that I am not going to be held hostage to my family line’s traumas and tribulations. If that means that one day I will be persecuted for being who I am, and I hope that this does not happen, then so be it. I will still be who I am, not matter how anyone else sees me. I am relaxing my roots.
As we relax our roots an step into our personal authenticity, what others think of us becomes less and less relevant in our lives. We are no longer bound by their expectations, or obligations that they would place upon us, or their sentiment or nostalgia. We are no longer trapped in what always was, or in what should have, would have, could have been. We are free to be who we are right now in this moment. We are free to flow with what is congruent for us as a person, as a soul, as someone who is connected to our heart vibrations.
When we connect to our heart vibrations, we connect to what is an integral part of who we are. We connect to not only our personal authenticity but our personal integrity as well. As our integrity grows, we become integrated in all aspects of ourselves. We truly become one within.
As we become one within we then are able to relax into the vastness of who we can become. Stepping into who we can become is something that many find frightening because it means stepping up to that in the face of great resistance. Because when we change within, others may not have noticed the moment or series of moments that have caused that change. And yet the change has happened…and this comes as a surprise to them. And they will fear this because it translates into an invitation for them to also step up to who they truly are.
People often confuse who they truly are with what they have always believed. This is why so many people hold on so tightly to religious and political dogma. They want to force the world to believe what they believe, even if it is outmoded and archaic. As a species we would not have survived the Ice Age if we had not been able to adapt and flow with change. We had to let go of what we had always done for thousands of years and try new things…because to not try new things would mean that we would possibly perish.
We live in a time where new ideas and new perspectives are needed and are beginning to flourish. This is necessary for the human race to evolve. That evolution requires that we shed what is in the way of growth in order to uncover what is within us, what has always been within us, so that we can make the shift that is necessary for that growth to happen.
We shed all those things that have been in the way of who we are, deep inside. In so doing we discover that we are able to do things, and to step into things, that we never before thought possible. And as a result we are able to more easily heal old wounds, old scars. As one wound begins to heal there is a ripple effect within, and all the other wounds then begin to heal as well. We owe it to ourselves to allow that healing to take place. We owe it to ourselves to allow our personal authenticity to shine through.