I'm coming to you with some good thoughts this week Authentic's! I'm in week four of a nine week series which means we are half way through. I'm grateful for those of you who have read along with me. I'm excited about the feedback I've received as well! Hearing your thoughts has really allowed me to see that others are like me. People's struggles aren't all that different from mine. It gives me more confidence to stand alone in my authenticity. Does that make sense? So I decided this week to discuss authenticity with surrender as my medium. Surrender has many definitions to choose from. Miriam-Webster online gives this definition: to give oneself up into the power of another : yield. I chose this definition because I think it best fits what we will be discussing in terms of authenticity.
Hiding Behind My Glasses....
The first time I met my life coach I was full of emotion. I had reached a point in my life where I felt stuck. I was expressing to her my frustration with life. I had reached a place in which I felt I was moving up to only have situations occur that slowed or completely halted my progress. Financially I was in a bind. After completing college, I graduated without my degree because I was in debt to my university. I had developed a rare illness as well. All of these things occurred at a moment in time when I expected things to begin to soar. I had it all planned out but, life seemed to have shut the door in my face. I felt defeated but I'd never given up hope. It all sounds a bit sad right!
I practiced thinking intentionally. I practiced having faith that my circumstances would change. I practiced trust in God so that I could get what I desired. I could not for the life of me figure out what I was getting wrong. I made it a purpose to focus my thoughts on God. I kept my emotions in tact. I stayed positive. So positive that someone told me I was to positive! I never understood that criticism. That person didn't see my daily struggle. Anyway, even though I hadn't surrendered my eyes weren't opened to that fact until my life coach asked questions that guided me to see it. I indeed had not yet surrendered. I had not given up. I had not let go. I had not yielded.
In previous weeks I've discussed that being authentic includes being intentional. We have to set goals and act on the goals we set. We can't simply set the intention in our mind and then believe that the way we want life to happen will just happen. Many people see it like that. I did. I was raised in the church. I was raised to pray and ask God to handle things I felt I couldn't bear. We've heard the saying my problem is big but my God is bigger right! I was raised to believe in ancient miracles. The bible story of Moses and the Israelite's was repeatedly told during church services as a guide to having faith. Somehow with nothing the children of Israel were fed, clothed, and had shelter all the while wondering in the wilderness for 40 years. I had to surrender this thinking. I had to give it up. Why did I have to surrender this thinking? It no longer served me. I was asking God what's next and waiting for my next move. Waiting for a premonition, a special thought, or a sign that let me know what to do. I waited. It worked for the Israelite's! For Sharhonda here in the 21st century it wasn't working. I had to release that line of thinking. I had to surrender many other thoughts that caused me to be stuck. I am happy I surrendered!
In the same fashion that my thoughts limited me from moving forward in my professional life they hindered me in my personal development. The ways that I handled my past issues no longer served me. Having worked on these things for so long without a clear solution, I was repeating the same behaviors over and over again. I was repeating them even when I did not desire to. I didn't have a clear view on how to progress. I thought in many ways I was progressing. It often takes for someone who has carved their way through past hurts and hang ups to help you see where you are getting stuck. They found the pathway through and they can do the same for you.
Authentic's when we think of surrender as the Miriam-Webster dictionary suggest we think of giving up to a certain power. In war when one surrenders they give up their power to another greater than themselves. When I decided to surrender, the power I was surrendering to was Self! The Authentic Self. I had worked on myself most of my adult life to get over my past hurts. I caged authentic self in so that she was protected. I wanted to be safe. I had a valid reason to protect myself based on past experiences. However the protection I used was like putting myself behind the Berlin wall within a cement cell with padded walls and bars to complete the look! I threw away the key. People couldn't reach me. The dangerous part was I couldn't be myself. When I couldn't be myself I displayed behavior that was against SELF. Thank God self is powerful enough to keep showing up even when we attempt to cage it behind the Berlin Wall in cement!! I hope you are following me my loves. We have to surrender whatever is keeping us from being authentic!
I love who I'm becoming. I love who I am. I haven't been able to say that with so much confidence in the past. I used to be so down on myself because I felt that I wasn't measuring up. In so many ways I wasn't. I didn't allow Self to shine then. Now I am in the business of letting her out. I'm in the business of speaking my mind. I'm in the business of being vulnerable. I am in the business of showing my spiritually connected, loving, silly, artistic, poetic, gorgeous smiley-face, ambitious, awesometastic, uniquely weird Self! WHOOOP WHOOOP!!!! :) :) :) That's freedom!
Surrender. Giving Up. Giving up is a good thing when you let go of things that no longer serve who you are. Giving up. Surrendering. Letting Go. These things, when it leads to you and I being closer to our true selves, create for us a productive life. Once I surrendered my disastrous defense mechanism I didn't search for freedom but I experienced it. When I let go, I took charge and initiated change in my life. When I surrendered I began to take greater action to secure the future I desired. I see surrender working in my life. What thoughts, actions,beliefs do you need to surrender today so that you can live more freely? So that you can be your authentic self.. Join the Journey to Authenticity!
Until next time my loves.....
#JourneytoAuthenticity
#HidingBehindMyGlasses
#Surrender #GiveUp #LetGo
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