To live to the fullness of who we are, takes courage, stamina, and guts. The world around us is not always an easy place to live. We have to deal with the limiting beliefs of those who claim to love us. Plus at times, society does not welcome our uniqueness.

From a young age we are taught to blend in, not create any ripples, remain silent until spoken to. These behavioral patterns do nothing to help us express ourselves honestly. We learn that remaining silent or being invisible are methods of survival.

The sad thing with this is we keep our authenticity hidden. We fail to realize that we are meant for greatness. We are meant to show the world who we really are. We are meant to share our gifts with those around us. We fear being ridiculed so we play it small, but we also fear not being true to ourselves.

It takes almost constant work uncovering our inner truth, then living by this truth. At times if feels like an uphill battle. Those who know us want to see the same person day in and day out. Any shift we make to reconnect with our true selves may cause discomfort in them, thereby making our journey also uncomfortable.

Yet we must do all we can to live authentically, otherwise we are just living a life meant to please others. Deep within us we know we are destined for more, but fear being outcast for following our truth.

One thing to remember is that through our journey to live our truth, we will connect with the love found at the core of our being. This love only asks us to be truthful with ourselves. It does not require us to change to please anyone.

All we need to do is to learn who we truly are, and cast off the false identity others have placed on us. Not even the persona we created as a way to please those around us is real. We are searching for the authentic truth that comes when we unite with the love found deep within our consciousness.

This takes courage, stamina, and guts, because the world is constantly trying to shape us into who they think we should be. In a sense our authenticity threatens the very people who claim to love us. They like us as we were, not who we are becoming.

This is a fulltime job. To truly love who we are we must express this truth in every moment of our day. If we choose to play it small because others don’t like who we have become, then we are denying ourselves the gift of our authentic self.

All of us want to please our family and friends, but if it comes at the cost of our authenticity, then the sacrifice may be too great to bear. Returning to a version of who we once were to please those in our circle does us more emotional harm than we will ever know.

Imagine waking up in the morning realizing we have denied the world of our unique selves because we would rather make others comfortable. All the while we are miserable, living a life that is basically a lie because we have not been truthful with ourselves.

Look at it this way, to truly love ourselves we must be one with our authentic selves. We cannot claim to love who we see in the mirror if we are denying ourselves and the world around us, the truth of who we are. To be totally authentic, we must love ourselves no matter what kind of day we are having, good or bad.

This may not be easy but whose life is it anyway? Who has to walk our path? Who is responsible for how our life turns out? Not those in our circle. Not those who wish we would change to please them. The person who has the courage, stamina, and guts, to live to the fullness of who they are is the only person responsible for a truly authentic life.

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Do you have the courage, stamina, and guts to life your authentic life? Let me know what you think. Leave a comment below, I’m always interested to hear your point of view.

If you would like to follow me on Blue Sky Social here is the link,

https://bsky.app/profile/paul-hudon.bsky.social

Thank you for being a part of this wonderful adventure called life, I appreciate your company.

Peace and well-being, Paul

Copyright Paul Hudon 2025