Two years ago I’ve set the goal for myself to be more authentic, to be me. Authenticity means having a keen awareness of who you are and what you stand for, and expressing yourself honestly and consistently to the world. It has taken some time but I feel I’m more and more aligned with who I truly am and I wanted to share what I’ve learned.
- Embracing my flaws: one of the important steps for me was to accept myself fully, that means with all my so called ‘flaws’ and things I would like to change. It doesn’t mean I don’t want to work on things anymore but acceptance is a starting point to get ahead. I’ve always struggled with my weight but I don’t want to only work out because of that. I want to do sports because it’s good for me, I want to eat healthy for the same reason and don’t be to hard on myself.
- Acknowledging my talents: it’s harder to tell all the things you love about yourself then what you don’t. I’ve learned that it’s more important to put time into what I’m good at then to focus on the opposite. I don’t feel shy about calling myself an artist anymore. I make art so I am an artist 🙂
- Claiming time for myself: as a working mother me-time is scarce. I’m a good planner and I want to divide my time across all important things in my life. Sometimes I’ve forgotten myself. A happy mother is a good mother, so when I need time for myself I just take it now and everybody benefits.
- Doing what I like: I know what I love to do, I love meeting friends and family but when I’m alone I love drawing, reading, nature, going to the spa… I just try to do as much as possible of the things that give me joy.
- Doing less of what I don’t like: saying no is an important one. It can be hard but the alternative is being drained and that’s not an option anymore.
- Listening to my intuition: this is maybe the most important one! Your inner self knows what’s good for you and what’s not. You just have to listen. Meditation helped me to get in touch with my intuition and I try to check in a few times a day.
- Expressing myself more: being myself means also showing myself. With my art I’ve put myself out there and it has helped me to get more comfortable doing that. I still have to work on expressing myself verbally but I’m practicing, that why I’ve written this blog post 🙂
- Standing for my believes: I’m a person who looks at things from different perspectives and I don’t engage in discussions to much. I’ve learned what things are important for me but I won’t try to convince others of my opinions. Only when somebody approaches me about topics will I elaborate about my views.
- Not being scared of what others might think: this is a big one. On the one hand I don’t care if people find me a bit strange but I want to be liked. By being more authentic I’ve learned to let go of other peoples (possible) opinions and just do what I think is best for me and my family.
- Buying pink skates: this is a symbol for all the above. That’s me: a 34 year old mom who loves flashy clothes and accessoires, an introvert who loves parties, gets exited by book stores, can draw for hours, enjoys taking her family out to new places, who can’t get enough of anything to do with psychology and spirituality, goes to the gym since she was 16 but loves food even more, who doesn’t care what people think when they see her cruising the neighbourhood in her bright pink skates 🙂