Cultivating Your Authentic Self
“To be authentic, we must cultivate the courage to be imperfect -- and vulnerable. We have to believe that we are fundamentally worthy of love and acceptance, just as we are. I’ve learned that there is no better way to invite more grace, gratitude and joy into our lives than by mindfully practicing authenticity.”— Bren é Brown Authentic is defined in the dictionary as: “not false or copied; genuine; real.” “representing one’s true nature or beliefs; true to oneself or to the person identified. Being authentic is not always easy because we often feel confused by all the mixed messages that are projected onto us by our families, friends, our profession, school, and popular culture. Sometimes it is hard to distinguish what we want from what we are told we should want, or how we should dress, look, especially for women in this culture, where we are constantly bombarded by the media from a very early age. We are told that if we only buy this product or dress a certain way, we w...