What does it mean to be authentic to me?
Being authentic is just showing up.
Like who you truly are,
Right?
Showing up as who you truly are.
And.
.
.
Honestly,
I could.
I'm a perfectionist and an overthinker,
So I could probably talk about this and babble on forever,
But just really truly showing who you are and not worrying about whether someone's going to accept you or not.
It's not about that.
Being comfortable to be yourself.
You know,
Not even comfortable per se,
In a way,
I guess,
But you know,
Getting to that point of accepting who you are for who you are and it doesn't matter what anybody else thinks,
Right?
And just being authentic to your beliefs and taking care of you.
And being able to share your experiences.
Story,
Your beliefs,
Who you are.
You know,
Going out into the world as you and not having to put on a front for anybody.
You know,
So many times throughout my life I had to,
Or I felt like I had to.
Be reserved or.
.
.
You know.
Hide,
I guess,
Who I was.
I felt like I was hiding for many,
Many years and isolated.
Who I truly authentically am.
From everyone for.
.
.
Fear,
Actually,
I think fear was a big part of it.
Fear of being judged.
And I don't know why that was such a big deal for me,
But I was just scared that people wouldn't accept me for me.
But now that I'm older,
I actually,
I don't care if someone accepts me the way I am or not.
Because this is who I am,
I'm not changing for anyone.
I don't think anyone should have to do that.
You are who you are.
Bring yourself out into the world as that person because that's who you are.
No need to put on false pretenses,
Pretend you're someone else,
Or pretend to be what other people want you to be.
Like,
What good is that going to serve,
Right?
I think being authentically you.
Flaws,
Imperfections,
Everything and all.
That's who you are.
No one's perfect,
And that's okay.
Getting to that point of self-love and self-acceptance.
I think is a big part of being authentic because once you're there.
It really doesn't matter whether people accept you because if they don't like you for you,
Then they're just not meant to be in your world.
What does being vulnerable mean to me?
Well,
Being vulnerable to me means allowing people to see parts of you.
That.
You know,
Aren't perfect,
Right?
So.
.
.
If you're not as strong or put together or perfect as you think you should be.
Um.
.
.
I think that blocks a lot of vulnerability.
I was very much a perfectionist and always worried about what other people thought of me.
My entire life.
You know,
Being able to now share my story and open up is a big deal to me because people are seeing a side of me that I've never really exposed much of before.
I think I've tried to over the years,
But it never really fully got there.
I was always worried I would be judged or criticized.
Whatever,
It's like for showing.
My authentic self and being vulnerable and allowing.
Having the courage to express myself.
So I think that was a big lesson for me was learning how to have that courage and learning how to express myself and learning.
That it's okay to be vulnerable,
To be emotional.
I've spent most of my life hiding who I was and.
.
.
Repressing my emotions,
You know,
That's not good for anybody who's like,
Honestly.
I don't think that serves anybody any good.
So being vulnerable is truly having that courage to come out of your shell and allow the world to see who you truly are and know that vulnerability is not a weakness,
It's actually a strength.
Because when you allow yourself to be vulnerable,
People will resonate with you on a deeper level.
And that allows for connection and stronger connections.
And I think that's a huge part of life that maybe we don't always embrace all the time.
And maybe people are scared to have that closeness and connection and have that relatability as someone.
You know,
Even express it,
Right?
So I think that's a big part of My growth is.
.
.
Knowing that it's okay to have that vulnerability and it has brought some incredible people along my path.
Who resonate with me and I can connect with on a deeper level because we're not afraid to allow ourselves to be real.
Are there negative aspects to.
.
.
Authenticity and vulnerability.
100%.
I am a person who wears my heart on my sleeve and I can tell you more times than I care to admit being taken advantage of,
Right?
So my kindness and my giving nature has definitely been taken advantage of on several occasions.
And so that's definitely something that,
You know,
You have to be on the lookout for,
But I have grown from that and I have learned a lot from that.
So I can still be my kind,
Authentic self and I can still be vulnerable,
But I have set up bigger boundaries of what I will and will not accept and what I will and will not tolerate.
So I think that's a big part of that.
I will never stop being a giver.
Want to stop wearing my heart on my sleeve because that's who I am.
That's part of me.
And I just recognize things a little bit differently now.
And yeah,
I'm better able to take care of myself.
But it's okay to still have that open heart and let everyone see who I truly am.
I just know that I can maintain my boundaries and protect myself and take care of myself.
Because when you come to that place where you totally accept yourself and love yourself,
Then you come first,
Right?
So you don't let anyone take advantage of you anymore.
