Wake Up To Your Authentic Self
“You can be open and honest without being authentic, but you can’t be authentic without being open and honest” – It makes sense therefore to just “show up” doesn’t it?
Authentic:
Having a claimed and verifiable origin or authorship; not counterfeit or copied
Honest:
Marked by or displaying integrity; upright
Open:
Accessible to all
These are just some of the definitions available for these three very powerful words.
I posted the statement at the opening of this blog post on Facebook a couple of days ago and a friend “had to ask”….”how can you be honest without being authentic?”
Before responding to her question I have been considering what exactly did I mean. Truthfully I was inspired by something a friend said to me just the other day and the original post was me paraphrasing what he had said.
To answer the question though “how can you be honest without being authentic?”, I will do my best…
The point being made to me, which had me consider this was that we can be “open and honest” with the very best of intentions, to everyone we encounter, yet does this truly come from a place of authenticity?
If being authentic is coming from a “verifiable origin” or “not counterfeit or copied” it suggests that we, as human beings need to “show up” as our true self, coming from that place within us that is absolutely pure and true, warts and all. It takes courage to “be”, without facade, just as we really are, with all our hopes and fears on show to the world.
Just the other day I was having a similar conversation with a client and we were discussing all the “roles” we play in life. At one moment we play the role of husband, wife, daughter, son, parent, grandparent and so on. The next we take on the role of boss, supervisor, business person, company owner. Sometimes we are supporter, other times, director. Occasionally competitor, then partner. And so on.
In all of these roles we take on the characteristics of them, according to our beliefs and experiences of what that role means. We may well approach it honestly and with openness. We can be totally genuine in our intention and display of honesty. Everything we do or say, when playing a particular role, could be coming from that place of being honest, being open.
However, does this actually mean we are being our authentic self? Surely, if you take the definition above, when we are being truly authentic we are not “copying” any role we believe we should play. We are simply just “being”.
It’s a fascinating debate and I would welcome your thoughts.
In the meantime, Wake Up To Your Authentic Self. Whatever that means for you.
Have a wonderful day. 
I guess it’s hard to be a true authentic self when behaviour recognised as conventional are dictated by societal norms and the edicts of law.
Thank you “leadinglight”. Appreciate you commenting.
I wonder what is considered “conventional” in these evolving times? And whose law? When we consider what is “right or wrong”, in the context of law I mean, that always depends on which side of the fence we sit, which part of the globe we come from, what religious upbringing we have, our political affiliation etc etc.
Wayne Dyer, an inspiration to me, discusses at length that the “enemy” is hatred itself, not the various people we are “taught to hate” because of our background and the way we were brought up. For me he is bang on the money so to speak.
To continue the thread in relation to authenticity, it is my experience that there are few people who do not “hide” some things from others, and this need to leave things unsaid or behave in a certain way, is directly related to the “societal norm” you mention, brought about by the way we are conditioned over time, by our environments and the people we have associated with. All of this with the conscious, or subconscious need to gain approval.
From here we can see that we can be open and honest, with a true intention to be so at a conscious level, providing it conforms with the “norm” we find ourselves in. However, if we are being truly authentic I guess we may risk disapproval, at times, from those around us who see us one way, or another.