What Does it Mean to Be Your Authentic Self?

In my journey of awakening, I have often heard the term "authentic self" used to describe that which is your Highest expression of self or as your Higher Self. This morning I was writing in my journal as I often do to record my dreams and I heard the message to understand my authentic expression outside of the spiritual arena. Basically guiding me to take a look at where I am NOT expressing my authentic self in my life. I started to think about what it meant to be "authentic" and decided to look the word up in the dictionary to see what revelations is might bring me. In the dictionary, authentic is defined as "not false or copied; genuine or real". It also further describes authentic as an adjective which further defines a noun as reliable or trustworthy as in an authentic copy of a manuscript. It also says that this reliability stems from unquestionable evidence. As I pondered the definition I realized that the Authentic Self is the truest version of our energy.  It is not false nor is it copied for we are all unique. It is the genuine expression of what lies beyond the unreal (which to me is the illusion of fear).

We all know that we came to this world to experience the emotive forces, to experience the different degrees of love and to embark upon a life embroiled in duality.  All the while understanding on a Eternal level that we would be able to perceive through the veil of this reality and into the truest, most reliable, most trustworthy and genuine expression of self. So from the perspective of our Infinite Selves, the journey to discover our authentic expressions in this world is the journey of awareness, discovery and most of all growth. Just like a balloon can not expand without someone or something blowing air into it, so it is that we can not truly expand to our most authentic self without the force or pressure of the contrast in our lives.  I see the contrast as means to expand our balloon.  It is the air, or better yet, the helium that expands our awareness and allows us to float effortlessly through this world. We can trust this because we all know that when there is conflict in our life and we rise above it, we feel lighter and wiser from it.

So how do we know when we are expressing authentically? How do we know when we are being our most reliable, trustworthy self? Well the simple answer is when we feel joy, love, peace, harmony and the ever present gift of these things in our experience. I know that when I am teaching and guiding others, when I'm in meditation and communing with Spirit and the Higher Realms that I am in harmony, in peace, in joy and feeling the blessings of love. I am trustworthy and reliable because I FEEL it. I FEEL my TRUTH. However, there are those times when I don't feel like my authentic self. Rather I feel the "false presence" or the presence that is not my most reliable or trustworthy. It is the presence that is ruled more by my ego self, which we all know is unreliable and can not be trusted. Bottom line, it is the limiting ideas or beliefs that are steeped in fear that drive or fill this presence.

But fear is really just an illusion. Easy to say when you're not in it, right? Why is it an illusion? Because it's based in the unreal, in that which is not our authentic self. It's based in limited ideas that we were exposed to, taught by our parents and society and nourished by our continued thoughts of unworthiness or lack. The human psyche is complex yet oh so simple. We are designed to be love, to know love, to give and receive love and to shine this love into the world.

When a developing child, even in the womb, feels, hears or receives ideas and emotions that create an environment of non-love, the child will feel they are to blame in some way. Sometimes, the experienced thought or emotion grows like a parasite in the subconscious and feeds on the similar thoughts until a belief is formed that denies the truth. Does this mean that we blame society, our parents or even the mass consciousness (which we are all a part of) for all the fear in our lives and our inability to express authentically. NO, it means that we take responsibility for our thoughts, for our emotions, for our actions and for our energy that we put forth into the world and toward ourselves (we Forgive and Live). We recognize that there were others in our life that did not do this and there will be others in this world that won't embrace this truth. The authentic you takes responsibility and models that to the world and to the ego self. The authentic you is impeccable in thought and action and always does its best to exemplify this.

As more and more people journey to this understanding that fear is merely a degree of love. That all things in this reality are merely degrees of the same thing (for instance hot and cold are merely degrees of temperature), we will no longer feel the sting of fear. We will simple view it as a version of emotion that has no where else to go but "UP" and toward Love.

I leave you with this one thought, please don't read this and beat yourself up for not being impeccable or taking responsibility because that's just a belief that you are less than what you are at your core, which is authentic. Own your authenticity, walk it as best you can and allow your balloon to take you into your new heightened awareness.  Much Love, Marie G.