Chapter 8
Uncovering the Authentic Self
'The snow goose need not bathe itself to make itself white. Neither need you do anything but be yourself.'
Lao-Tse
Nothing is more powerful and empowering than honoring your true nature, standing in your truth, and becoming your authentic self. When you uncover and express your authentic self, you allow your inner light to shine. You are in touch with your higher guidance, truth, and wisdom and can live your highest purpose with joyful creativity.
Valerie Rickel, a founder of Soulful Living, says
‘When you are living an authentic life, you are contributing your soulful nature and gifts to the world and thus creating a better, more authentic, and soulful life experience for us all.’
Just as children are naturally creative, they have no trouble being authentic. Think back to how you were when no one suppressed or controlled your natural joy, your blunt truthfulness, and your curiosity and joy de Vivre. At some point, however, we are taught to suppress the true self. We have to ‘behave,’ ‘act like a lady,’ ‘be a gentleman,’ ‘act grown-up,’ stop jumping in the puddles and playing in the mud, keep our clothes clean-and withhold our truths and deny what we see and hear to ‘fit in’ and meet the expectations of our parents, teachers, and society. We create a cellar in our soul for all the stuff that’s not allowed-beliefs, opinions, authentic feelings of anger, disappointment, self-criticism, pain, fear, humiliation, shame, abandonment, and distrust.
‘When you fashion a life where the decisions you make and the actions you take are considered, deliberate, and in harmony with what’s important to you, you are living an authentic life,’ says Suzanne Zuglio, Ph.D. author and consultant.
‘It is not necessarily a life others admire or think is right for you, but a life that you know in your heart is right for you. It may not be a life that has been your habit, but it is a life that makes you greet each day with enthusiasm and sleep peacefully at night.’
‘It is not necessarily a life others admire or think is right for you, but a life that you know in your heart is right for you. It may not be a life that has been your habit, but it is a life that makes you greet each day with enthusiasm and sleep peacefully at night.’
Living authentically comes from remembering that we are powerful spiritual beings, and remembering requires us to quiet the ‘monkey mind’ and its constant chatter of evaluations, judgments, and thoughts. (Remember, alpha isn’t what you think.) The alpha mind and the open heart are the quiet home of the true self, and it is in the high alpha open-heart space that we can align ourselves with the mind and the heart of God. We can see ourselves in our perfection, without the critical judgment of the ego or ‘authorities.’ We are inherently powerful when we are standing in our truth, living as our authentic selves.
As Maryann Williamson wrote
‘Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you NOT to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.’