The Exhaustion of Insincerity - Part Two

As I continue to think about the masks we wear and that the true gift we give others is when we are authentic...

I'm also sharing photos from the first week of The Summer of Color 2013, sponsored by Kristin at Twinkle Twinkle.  This week's theme:  Citron and Turquoise.

As I read about this subject of being sincere and authenticity...it seems to me that the underlying reason we dodge being sincere and authentic...who we really are...is because of shame...fear...Brene Brown calls them gremlins.

What if I think I am enough, but others do not?

What if I let my imperfect self be seen and known, and nobody likes what they see?

What if  my friends/family/co-workers like the perfect me better...you know, the one who takes care of everything and everyone?

It's hard to be authentic in world that applauds the perfect, the beautiful, the politically correct, the progressive, the people-pleasers...

Brown writes in her book, The Gifts of Imperfection:

Authenticity is the daily practice of letting go of who we think we're supposed to be and embrace who we are.  

Choosing authenticity means:

- cultivating the courage to be imperfect, to set boundaries, and to allow ourselves to be vulnerable;

- exercising the compassion that comes from knowing that we are all made of strength and struggle; and

- nurturing the connection and sense of belonging that can only happen when we believe that we are enough.

Mindfully practicing authenticity during our most soul-searching struggles is how we invite grace, joy and gratitude into our lives.

She also writes:

'Staying real' is one of the most courageous battles that we'll ever fight.

E. E. Cummings wrote:

To be nobody-but-yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody but yourself--means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight--and never stop fighting. 

But as a believer in the Bible and in Christ, can I really view myself as being enough?

I'll explore that in an upcoming post...