No matter how difficult it may be, when someone makes a stand, it’s respected.

     According to the dictionary being authentic means being genuine and original. It could also mean being true and trustworthy.   Everyone has a different set of attitudes, beliefs, goals and values but authenticity – generally speaking – is the same for all people. It simply means being true to yourself.

    Yet we see people all the time who are being more fake than real. Take the sales person on TV, the presenter/speaker who is performing instead of presenting, or the classmate or colleague who pretends to like you until you’ve served your usefulness and they move on. How did that make you feel; not appreciated, used, ignored, and invisible?


     Has there ever been a time when you were young and exhibited your true thoughts and feelings only to have someone cut them down? Sure you have, who hasn’t? No wonder it’s scary to be authentic. It’s that age old fear of not being accepted, liked, or criticized if you do show the real you that has been lingering inside you ..

   We’re ripping off the world when we’re not allowing our gifts to shine through.

   We need to decide if we are going to continue on letting that fear dictate our future growth. If we want to move on and be successful, we can’t let that childhood fear stop us from being who we are meant to be.

  So how can you know if you’re being authentic or not?
     One way is to check  is whether you feel awkward or not in a situation: being authentic feels natural whereas being inauthentic doesn’t.

  That’s because you’re forcing yourself to wear a mask and act differently than you normally do. This tends to happen when you’re under pressure to behave a particular way, for instance, if you dislike the person you’re talking to.

Just imagine scenarios where you think:

   “I don’t like this person, but I’m trying to be nice” or “This situation makes me feel uncomfortable, but I don’t know what to do about it.” In these situations, people tend to hide their true feelings by acting overly polite, but such a strategy can be painfully obvious

 Regardless of how you feel about the person you’re speaking to, you’ve got to remain authentic.

   Instead of sporting a fake smile, try looking at the people you meet with unbiased eyes. Maybe you can find something to appreciate about them. For instance, maybe they have skills in areas where you don’t. Or maybe you can feel compassion for their actions.