Thursday, February 15, 2018

The Authentic YOU

Most of us have several roles in life. We work. We have careers. We have families, friends and associates. We have church. We have groups and organizations that we are affiliated with. With all of these, we have roles and those roles very often have demands. As overwhelmed and exhausted as we may become, we bravely put on our game faces and do whatever it is we think we need to do.

In the dynamics of it all, the spinning around, the lack of time management, the pull of "people are depending on me" syndrome, the question arises "Who am I really?" and why am I not taking care of myself and my own needs?

Sometimes we get so lost in the demands and responsibilities that we lose touch with ourselves, or even forget who we really are. It is at that pivotal point in our self-discovery that we must free ourselves to become our authentic selves. That authentic self is the person who is truly in touch with his or her needs, wants, desires and choice of obligations and demands.

Finding our authentic self will mean letting go of the things that are unnecessary in many cases. It means letting go of the guilt we feel when we can't be the one who is the "go-to" guy all the time. It means letting go of the worry that people may view you differently if you don't make those commitments that you really can't handle. It means letting go of the roles that are not critical to your well-being, the ones that give you very little return on your investment, the ones that drain the the life out of you.

Your authentic self surfaces as you make these strategic decisions about what is most important to you and in your life, because it narrows everything down to what makes you and those closest to you happy. It may take you a minute, or maybe days or even months to do the cutting away that frees you to be your best you, and that's okay. Take your time and observe the success. You'll see that the groups, the affiliations, the stuff that you thought could not survive without you, did just fine as the door opened for someone else equally as committed and qualified as you. And, also in that process, you will have successfully managed to discover the best role you'll ever have to live up to in life: the authentic YOU. Make that one your greatest commitment. ~ S.R.F.