Being authentic means that you stay true to your core character no matter the setting/environment. We all wear different masks to a degree with different people. Perhaps we become more subdued when with someone who is more serious in nature or we become more animated when we are with someone outgoing and extroverted. These are subtle changes and they don’t effect authenticity.
Authenticity is affected when we go against our values in order to fit on with others. In a way, I feel I will only be truly living an authentic life when I become a vegetarian. I know that visiting an abbatoir would stop me eating meat immediately yet hide my head in the sand at the moment. I blame a busy lifestyle and not knowing how to cook a blanaced vegetarian diet for my procrastinating. I probably would eat fish too, so officially I would be a pescatarian. I was recently in Breckenridge, Colorado and met someone who is a vegetarian. Every time I meet someone who is a vegetarian, I feel it is a nudge from the universe to remind me to move forward with my authenticity.
Another way that I try to be authentic is to keep the same opinions, no matter who I am with. I have never respected people who are two-faced and would never gossip about others. If I say anything about anyone, good or bad, I would be willing to say that to the person face to face.
I try as much as possible to be kind and to show empathy to others. Being judgmental is a barrier to tolerance and I always try to understand the behaviour of others but trying to understand why they do what they do.
Stick to your values and your opinions even in the face of disagreement, that means you are living a life of authenticity. We are all a work in progress, no one is perfect but the ambition to be true to yourself is honourable in itself, as long as you keep working at it.
Mandy X
Author: Mandy Kloppers
Mandy is a qualified therapist who treats depression, anxiety, OCD, PTSD, trauma, and many other types of mental health issues. She provides online therapy around the world for those needing support and also provides relationship counselling.
