YOUR AUTHENTIC SELF

Most of us have heard the advice: be yourself! As if there is this one true essence to each of us and our work is to let it out.

What I have found is that being yourself in a world full of expectations, judgments, and shaming can be hard, especially when you feel like you are on the outside of what is acceptable. So here is my best advice: Do It Anyway.

Yes, there are people who will mock you. Yes, there are people who will think you are weird. Yes, there are people who will avoid you because they can’t handle a soul who expresses authentically.

But you can handle you. And that’s all that matters.

If you wanted to put this into practice today, go out for a drive with no set destination. Just wander your city and at each intersection, ask yourself, Which way next? Follow the path that excites you the most. If you see a place to stop that grabs your attention, stop. If you see a place you love, stop and take a picture. And if you see anyplace you’d like to visit with others, make a note. Then get back in your car and keep driving.

This is the best metaphor for life I can offer you. It’s you, in your vehicle (your body) going about town, making decisions in the moment, and capturing what appeals to you. Bring this sort of attitude to your entire life and you will, in short order, be expressing as your true self.

What that means for each of us is unique and different. Thank God. It is so much more fun to have a world populated with individual souls with different ways of expressing. Just today I ran into a man who was talking to himself and I thought, Thanks for paving the way so that more of us can get to know ourselves.

Being yourself isn’t just an admonition. It’s the key to a well lived life. Feeling stuck? You aren’t expressing authentically. Feeling bored? You are not letting your true self out. Feeling down on life? You have cut off communication with your soul.

The solution? Go out for a drive. Find the true you. Have fun.