The Value of Being Fully Authentic and Fully Yourself
Posted on December 10, 2012 by Amelia Barnes , One of Thousands of Life Coaches on Noomii.
Be your authentic self. Sometimes we have tried so hard to fit in or please others that we feel like we have given up pieces of ourselves.
Sometimes we hit a bump in the road, such as the loss of a job or a promotion or our relationships become rocky and we are no longer sure of ourselves. We may have tried hard to fit in and please others instead of having the courage to fully be ourselves. Is it okay to be you? Are you living the life you most want? This may sound like a silly question. Yet often we are living the life others expect of us instead of living the life we most want. Are you who you want to be or are you living the life others want you to live? Are you being fully authentic and fully yourself?
Are you trying too hard to please others?
Have you ever felt it was not okay to be you? You may have learned it is not okay to be yourself. You may have had to fit in as a child. Your teachers, peers and parents had certain expectations of you. You may have been seen as the shy one or the loud one or the funny one or good one, the smart one or even the black sheep. How others saw us and how they labeled us, affected who we were then and even who we are now. We have all wanted to be liked and accepted so we did our best to fit in.
As a child I felt invisible, like the stork had dropped me off at the wrong family. I didn’t feel like I fit in. At school it was worse, I just didn’t feel that I was like the other kids and I couldn’t be myself so I just tried, rather unsuccessful and unhappily to fit in. You may also have felt like you did not fit in. You may have wanted to be thinner or taller or smarter or prettier or just different. Later in life you may have tried to fit in by pleasing your boss or even pleasing your spouse. Only by having the courage to be fully ourselves can we have genuine connection and relationships with others.
What if you could like yourself exactly as you are? What if you could make peace with all those parts of yourself you do not like or the parts of yourself that you feel others do not like? What if you had the courage to be yourself and to let others in, to get to know you just as you are so they could get to know the real you. What if you could just be you?
Being comfortable with who we are, accepting ourselves and even liking ourselves is essential to being happy.
Other people acutally tend to trust us more and like us more when we are our authentic and genuine selves. So why with so many benefits to being ourselves are we so scared to be ourselves? We become afraid that if other people saw us just as we are they would not like us, just as we don’t like parts of ourselves. I’ve learned that just the opposite is true. When we have the courage to be ourselves we will attract people who want to be around us just as we are, warts and all. It takes courage to be ourselves. Only by having the courage to be fully ourselves can we have genuine connection and relationships with others.
Years later I’ve learned to be myself, to be comfortable in my own skin. I’ve found met wonderful people who accept me just as I am. When I allowed the real me to shine through with all my strengths and my imperfection, I became happier.
How would your life be different if you were comfortable in your own skin?
As a life and relationship coach I want to empower you to be comfortable in your own skin, to be authentic, to like yourself and to attract people who accept you just as you are and love the life you are living. It takes courage to create the life you want. For more info check out my video on Being Your Authentic Self at http://bit.ly/MgozBm.
Isn’t it time you were fully authentic and fully yourself?
Until next time,
Amy Barnes
Life and Relationship Coach
