Rediscovering freedom involves regaining a feeling of comfort in your own skin. The awkward layers that have been assumed to please others are shed, and the real person is revealed – an authentic person. What does this mean, and how do we regain our authenticity?

Firstly, what does authentic mean? The dictionary definition is: Conforming to fact and therefore worthy of trust, reliance, or belief; not counterfeit or copied. The authentic person is the real deal, what you see is what you get. The outside reflects the values of the heart. There is no show for the sake of others. The authentic person is reliable because their inner values and motivations are clear.

The definition of authentic precludes something that is copied or counterfeit. A copy is not original, or individual. It conforms to an image of something else rather than being itself.

The opposite of authentic is fake or superficial. The fake person is easily seen for what they are by anyone who is astute. Only the person who is not looking is fooled. The fake item always has low value. Everyone can see it is not what is purports to be.

A fake Rolex is obviously not authentic when you look at it closely and it tarnishes quickly. You can buy one for a few dollars then throw it away, while the real thing commands thousands and keeps looking good. Fake medicine looks the same as the genuine article, but it has no power to heal. It tries to ride on the reputation of the real item, but doesn’t deliver on its promises. In both cases, the fake or copy is of little value. The analogy holds for the fake person as well.

The fake person has lost their connection to the real person inside. After a while, they forget that they were ever an individual. They just become another clone, to be used or discarded by others, with little perceived inherent value.

So we have established that it is bad to be fake or superficial. How do we become authentic? Well authenticity is our original state. We are born as authentic individuals. There is nothing more real than a baby. A baby doesn’t fake anything. We lose authenticity along the way when we conform to what others think, rather than thinking for ourselves. We doubt our own wisdom and stop listening to our minds.

Regaining authenticity is a mental exercise. Firstly it involves identification of our core beliefs, then challenging those that are not congruent to where we want to be as a person. Only the strongest individuals will do this.

I estimate that 80% of visitors to this site will click on the back arrow – this is too hard for them to consider. I am talking about rebuilding the entire psyche – similar to Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus.

For many people, cognitive dissonance will cause them to immediately reject the new way of thinking. New fresh ideas will conflict with existing false beliefs. It is easier for the person to resist change and rejection of what they see as their true self (their false beliefs) than it is to logically assess the new ideas.

Once inner beliefs are changed, then outward change can follow. You can’t impose outward change, and expect inward change. Outward change comes from deciding to act in accordance with the dictates of the heart. It comes from refusing to again compromise core beliefs to “fit in” and refusing to learn what has been told rather than critically thinking it through.

Once the person has regained their authenticity, their character will be again congruent with their outward persona. This means that the energy that was spent in denial of reality, or keeping up a front can now be channeled into more productive areas. The individual will regain peace and self awareness. They can start to unleash creativity and fulfill their purpose in life.

Tags: authentic person, authenticity, Self-actualization

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 11th, 2007 at 8:56 pm and is filed under Self-actualization. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.