Authenticity

I am not going to sit here and tell you that it is always going to be ok.

 

Because some days will be really crappy.

 

I don't care who you are or what your life is like, you will have bad days.

 

So it isn't necessarily a matter of making every day amazing---it seems like the heart of the matter is making sure we are strong enough to handle the days where we are punched in the stomach over and over.

 

We can choose our safe places. 

But sometimes our safe places are compromised.

We build them. They seem like they're strong. And then someone finds a way to destroy a piece.

 

We have to learn to rebuild them over and over again.

Because we are going to have to.

 

This is life.

 

Although we can find safety in outside sources, I think safety needs to generate from within.

Because "What can I change about this situation?" seems like a much stronger question than "Will you protect me from this change?"

It shouldn't be about what life gives or takes away--it should be about what we put into life and what we take away from the experiences we are given.

 

I am not going to sit here and tell you that everyone will love you.

 

They won't.

 

You will find that even on your most genuine of days, people will judge you frontward and backward. They might do it behind your back or they might do it to your face but it will happen.

 

Your job is to love you.

Your job is not to judge them.

 

Two wrongs don't make a right. But if you take one wrong and one right, you can feel peace knowing that you made the right decision.

 

People will call you ugly, horrible things. They will think you are someone you are not.

Life will knock you down.

 

Get back up.

You need to get back up.

 

I am not going to sit here and tell you that this rollercoaster ever ends.

I really don't think it does.

What I do think is that when we face the bad days, we get braver. And when we bask in the goodness of the good days, we have more gratitude.

 

Be your authentic you.

Love the you that you already are.

 

People might tell you it isn't good enough. But you're here. You're breathing. You're trying. You are good enough.

"As I began to love myself, I found that anguish and emotional suffering are only warning signs that I was living against my own truth. Today I know this is "AUTHENTICITY". -Charlie Chaplin-

Today this is my favorite quote.

Today I believe that authenticity is what keeps me going.

Sometimes I fight the feelings in my heart that tell me I don't hate people. Sometimes I want to hate people that treat me wrong. But I cannot and will not become a person that I am not because of the actions of someone else. I will not hate others because that is not who I am.

I fight to be authentic. I fight because I do not want to forfeit who I am for who someone believes I am.

We cannot rely on the actions of others to determine our lives.

I am going to get up tomorrow---and the next day, and the next day...---with genuine intentions to be me.
Although this looks different every single day, being authentic to myself is what keeps me able to empathize more openly and sort my feelings more efficiently.

I will not believe the negative things said about me because for every negative lie, there are a thousand positive truths.

Today I believe the truths.