Self-Development

On Becoming an Authentic Person

The challenges that keep us from showing ourselves, the benefits of being real.

I'm traveling, and that disruption in routine always brings introspection, and epiphanies.

One of the things that came to me this morning is my yearning for authenticity — for being a person of authenticity. This is one of the components, I think, if behind a person of integrity.

I wasn't groomed for authenticity. I was groomed to be a pleaser, a performer. That's my "default mode," and lately I've been bucking against that.

The enemy of authenticity, for me, has been scarcity. When one lives in scarcity - of resources, of friendships, employment, allies, one can feel one cannot afford the luxury of authenticity, lest one may lose precious connections and opportunities.

But waiting for abundance is flawed. For one thing, one can end up waiting for a lifetime. For another thing, one develops a habit. Will Durant wrote "we are what we repeatedly do." so it behooves us to be careful with what we choose to do repeatedly.

“We are what we repeatedly do.” — Will Durant