Real and Authentic

Do you ever feel like if you aren't perfect people won't like you?  Do you find yourself trying to conform into whatever version you believe others want or expect you to be?

This was me for so long.  It was as if I didn't have my own identity or even have a right to be a unique individual.  I was always, someone's daughter or granddaughter or I was someone's sister and then I was someone's wife.  After my divorce I very quickly found myself thrown back into that state of simply being someone's daughter again.  Please don't misunderstand, I am very proud and honored to say I'm my parents daughter.  I love my parents dearly and I strive to make them proud of the woman I am, but now when I say I'm their daughter I do so with a clear understanding of myself and I own my own identity and no longer feel overshadowed by being a part of someone else.

I've encountered people who are different depending on those around them or if they are with someone in real life or online.  I don't understand that concept, for me it is too hard to pretend to be someone I'm not so you're going to get the same me no matter when you see me.  I'll admit with some I am far more cautious on how much of myself I openly share, but even with getting only a limited part of me what you get is real and authentic.  

Unfortunately with embracing who I am individually I have encountered many who don't understand, who judge, and then don't accept me.  I openly walk a path that is greatly misunderstood.  I was raised in a generation that believed you get a job and work 40 hours a week, then you retire with hopefully a decent retirement plan in place.  After pursuing that and doing what was expected, I walked away from that life.  I now have embraced the world of business owner, it's scary but exhilarating at the same time, because I'm following my own path, my own heart, my own passion, and most importantly I'm following God.  

It's been difficult on so many levels because when you do things differently than what's always been done you are greeted with distance and become more of an outcast.  This treatment can easily make someone turn away from their own path and return to what is expected, but for myself if I turn away from this path I'm turning from God and the gifts and talents He's blessed me with.  Are their challenges and do I find myself doubting?  You bet there are and oh yes, I do have my doubts and fears, but the one thing I will strive to never do is doubt God.  I'm so humbled that even when those around me are judging He continues to hold me up and guide me.  I've even lost relationships over this path, but I've come to understand those who have walked away weren't meant to remain.  

When you fully embrace the person you are, you accept yourself in all your imperfections and flaws.  Then you can walk away from feeling you must be perfect and accept that you are imperfectly real and beautifully authentic in who you are!