“Are you genuine? Or just an actor? A representative? Or what it is that is represented?—In the end, you might merely be someone mimicking an actor … Second question of conscience.”
– Friedrich Nietzsche
What does it mean to you to be authentic?
Can you remember the last time that you were truly authentic, that you were able to embrace all that is completely you?
For some of us, it can be more difficult to think of a time when we didn’t try to fit into some mold or preconceived notion of who or what we should be. If we continue to do this over a few days or months, maybe nothing will happen.
Imagine, however, what could happen if we continued to do this over years or even over a lifetime. What would happen then?
Who would we become? Maybe a better question would be who were we to begin with?
What was so wrong with that person that we chose to hide them, to ignore their existence and become someone or something else? What made us want to change so drastically? Who were we trying to please? What did we have to prove?
I ask myself these questions every so often just to see if I am living my life as me and not as someone that I am perceived to be.
What is my truth and am I living it? And once I can see my truth, am I strong enough to want to live it? Can I actually live it?
The least any of us can ask for is to live a life worth leading. What else is there?
Look now. What is your life like? Who are you and what is your truth? Where do the two meet or do they meet?
Ask yourself, what do I want my life to look like? Who do I want to be? Where do I need to be? What is going to make me happy?
Once you know the answers, then you can find your truth.
Then, and only then, can you live the life that you’ve always dreamt of.
