The Nine Powers Of Women: The Power Of Authenticity

This is an excerpt from the audiobook: The Nine Powers of Women: Awakening the Divine Feminine Within, read by Linda Stasieluk. The Power of Authenticity in Chapter 5.

Chapter 5 explores The Power of Authenticity, revealing how embracing your true self leads to deeper confidence, connection, and inner freedom. In a world that often pressures women to conform, authenticity becomes a powerful act of self-love and empowerment. This chapter guides you to shed limiting masks, honor your truth, and step fully into your unique brilliance.

Transcript

Chapter 5 The Power of Authenticity Women don't need to be perfect.

They just need to be real.

Unknown An old,

Old woman lived in the desert,

And some even called her wicked,

A hag,

A witch,

Or the wolf-woman,

La Loba.

She searched the terrain looking for bones,

Mainly of a wolf,

And she sang over them,

Bringing them to life in the body of a wild woman.

You may have heard this story through the voice of Dr.

Clarissa Pinkola Estes,

The author of the book Women Who Run With the Wolves.

Through stories like these,

We learn what our ancestors wanted us to know.

The spirit of women is wild,

Which means it's natural.

We must be uncaged and allowed to be free.

Some people may picture a crazy woman dancing half-dressed through the streets with unbrushed,

Long hair,

Yelling songs of freedom.

But that's only the spirit of a woman who has spent her life trapped.

She needs that true,

Wild expression of who she is.

The fifth power of women is the power of authenticity.

It's located at the fifth energy center,

Which is the throat chakra.

Energized by the color light blue and the sound element,

The throat chakra begins to develop around our fifth birthday.

It's also about our truth.

The power of authenticity is all about how we express ourselves in the world.

It's our true voice.

You can feel this energy.

Just close your eyes,

Take three deep breaths,

And bring your attention to the throat area.

Sense if your throat's energy is blocked or open.

If it feels tense or heavy,

The energy is probably blocked.

If it feels empty,

The energy is open.

This power frees us from our inner doubts,

Releases us from our fears and reservations about our way of being,

And helps us embrace ourselves and our truth.

It also allows us to enjoy the blessings of our inherited qualities and the lessons we learned.

This power celebrates who we are at our deepest level.

We learned in chapter three that while the power of confidence helps us step toward our goals,

In this chapter,

The power of authenticity gives us the why to take the step by aligning who we think we are with our authentic self.

In that way,

It inspires us to get out of our comfort zone and do the work we signed up to do.

When we're empowered in authenticity,

We color outside the lines and still show off our artwork.

We witness this in our children,

Who have high levels of authenticity.

Authenticity is an amazing power of expression.

It's beautiful to see people owning their uniqueness and sharing it with the world.

On the other hand,

This power is compromised when we become influenced by an agenda,

Usually someone else's.

We diminish our strength when we walk on eggshells,

Bite our tongue,

Or silence our feelings.

When we attempt to justify our dreams,

We also reduce our authenticity.

But bear in mind that being authentic doesn't give us a free pass to hurt others or the right to call everyone on their bullshit.

This behavior has nothing to do with the power of authenticity.

Instead,

It emanates from a strong ego with a dose of insecurity.

It's true that when we act authentically,

People may not always like what we do.

But the way we share our decisions or thoughts doesn't have to be an explosion of repressed,

Overdue reactions.

We can be authentic with grace.

Of course,

That requires practice.

Few of us had role models to show us how we could be more ourselves.

Most of the adults in our lives helped us build the shells we currently exist behind.

I discovered that there are seven barriers to our authentic self,

And we need to break through them to emerge as fully authentic.

It doesn't matter how old you are.

Your authenticity was likely compromised to a certain degree.

How deep?

Only you can know.

I found that most people have three or more shells that impact their ability to be authentic.

They are beliefs we learned or acquired when we went about living.

I invite you to explore each of the shells and decide for yourself if you have been caged by them.

Again,

This is a personal process.

If you find you have some of the beliefs but they are your beliefs and don't limit your authenticity,

Move on to the next shell.

You are the driver.

The seven shells.

Here are the seven shells.

Breaking through these seven shells will help you let go of the old beliefs that don't serve your authentic self.

One.

Ancestors.

Two.

Mother.

Three.

Father.

Four.

Lovers.

Five.

Tribe.

Six.

Religion.

Seven.

Self.

Let's review them closely and improve our awareness of them.

One.

Ancestors.

The first shell influencing our authenticity is our ancestors' beliefs.

It has to do with views from our family's origin,

The behaviors,

Thoughts,

And feelings that began in past generations and remain in place today.

Because they've been around since before you were born,

You had nothing to compare them to.

Some of these customs may be well-liked by most people in your family,

Such as eating Sunday dinner at the matriarch's house or taking a family beach vacation every July.

Others may include prejudices such as the dislike of Jewish or black people,

Only marrying within the race or religion of the family,

Getting married by the age of 18,

Etc.

Your job is to review your family traditions and beliefs and determine if any of the ancestor shells have kept you caged to discover your truth.

In my family,

Our ancestor shell was that we must work hard to have money and a good life.

The stories shared in our house about my grandparents and their ancestors showed that you wouldn't have a good life if you didn't work hard.

So I worked hard all the time.

If anything was too easy,

I had to avoid it because we believed easy work with money was a trap.

What is your ancestor's shell that you need to break through?

2.

Mother.

The second shell to break is the shell of your mother.

Your mother is your first home,

First connection,

And first care.

You trusted her.

Without formal schooling,

Your mother begins to teach you from the womb.

There was a theme in your mother's life that she repeatedly shared during informal conversations.

This was her way of protecting you.

In her mind,

That shell would reduce your pain and,

Therefore,

Her pain because your pain was her pain.

If your mother worked too much,

Stayed in unloving marriages,

Ignored money,

Had affairs,

Etc.

,

Her story of struggle may become part of your shell.

My mother's shell was about independence.

She told my sister and me over and over,

Don't depend on a man.

Over the years,

It was sound advice,

But it cost a high level of trust in my relationships.

Those types of shells caused us to find partners who can't be depended upon.

What we desperately seek to avoid is what we will find.

What is your mother's shell that you need to break through?

3.

Father.

The third shell to break free is the shell of your father.

Your father is the first love for women.

He's the man who protects us.

For men,

Their father is the pillar to measure against.

Sometimes,

Boys have a massive wall to climb.

Other times,

They need to descend to meet their father at eye level.

For girls,

Securing love from their father requires them to adhere to his rules.

If he has specific ideas about how good girls should behave,

We'll unconsciously act that way to get his approval.

But the girls whose spirits run with the wolves may struggle to find their connection with their father.

These free spirit seekers know where the shell boundaries exist and often break them.

Then,

When they come back full of enthusiasm and share their experience of freedom,

They're often met with disappointment and a withdrawal of love from their father.

If they cave,

Their power of authenticity begins to lose strength,

And if they don't,

They enter a journey of grief by losing the love and approval of their father.

Sometimes,

The father isn't around,

But there's still a shell caused by the absent man who didn't love and abandoned us.

What is your father's shell that you need to break through?

4.

Lovers.

The fourth shell to dissolve is the shell of our lovers.

One of the gifts of being a woman is our ability to share and connect with our lovers.

This is a time when we enrich ourselves and the people around us.

We are free to be the lover our spirit calls us to be,

But our love partners have strong shells themselves.

How we love ourselves is how others love us.

We bring our wounds to every relationship,

And when we don't work on our shells,

We also bring our ancestors,

Mothers,

And father's shells to the relationship.

One of my clients shared with me that she got pregnant at 17 years old to a boy who was 21.

She loved him,

And they quickly married before she began to show.

On her wedding night,

Wearing the beautiful white gown she purchased with the bit of money she saved working after school,

She went to the bedroom and waited for him.

It wasn't about the sex,

But the anticipation of the romantic wedding night she'd been dreaming about for a while.

The groom had been drinking all day.

After all,

It was his wedding day too.

When he came to the bedroom,

He beat her senseless for no reason.

Her mother had to take her to the emergency room the next day because she was black and blue.

Later,

He apologized and told her that his father told him to do it so that she would know he was the boss.

They were together for a few more years,

And she had another child with him.

Before you begin to judge my client,

I'd like you to feel her pain.

Feel what she must have felt that night and every other night her husband walked into their bedroom.

Feel that level of pain,

Multiplied by the years of her memory even after she left him.

That is the thickness of the lover's shell she needed to break.

Since her husband,

She hasn't been able to trust men.

Look at your past lovers,

Especially ex-husbands.

They leave a shell.

What is the lover's shell that you need to break through?

5.

Tribe.

The shell of a tribe is connected to the communities a woman lives in and around.

These groups have expectations of how people need to behave.

The tribe can be the people from their country,

School groups,

The neighborhood where she lives,

Church,

Clubs,

Or work environment.

Breaking through the tribe's shell may require courage.

Many women exist in those communities without fully expressing how they think and feel about the boundaries the tribe has established.

The need to be accepted by the group is an innate desire even when the group is just an expensive country club.

Most of the tribal mind is exclusive and the people are controlled by the group's beliefs.

It could be the way they look,

Behave,

Speak,

Practice religion,

Display money,

Achieve success,

Raise their children,

Socialize,

Or even enjoy recreational drugs.

The tribal shell will separate you from the group if you don't follow their rules,

But there are no written rules for a tribe.

The shell may be related to the ancestors,

Mother or father,

In a family setting.

So,

Ideas such as women don't smoke or wear pants,

Can't learn math,

Or study engineering may seem like simple shells to break when we look from the outside in.

But the years of indoctrination in the tribal setting may lead women to believe in those ideas.

And when they decide to smoke,

Wear pants,

Study math,

Or attend engineering school,

They become an outsider.

No one wants to be alienated.

As women begin to feel more assertive about breaking the limiting beliefs of the past,

They use their willpower to march ahead and preach how old-fashioned those ideas are.

Still,

Their inner being wants to be accepted.

We all do.

At that moment,

Many of us don't accept that we need to leave the tribe in order to free our authentic voice.

Some will stay,

And others will go.

Breaking the tribal setting may lead women to find other tribes and require them to do the work I list at the end of this chapter,

To accept themselves over the tribe.

What tribe shells do you have to break through?

6.

Religion.

Breaking the religious shell can cause the most disturbing and exhilarating acts of freedom,

Especially for people raised in orthodox religions that were widely accepted as the only truth.

I grew up in the Roman Catholic Church in a small town on Governor's Island in Rio de Janeiro,

Brazil.

We attended a small,

Unassuming white church that sat at the top of the hill facing the Guanabara Bay.

Yet,

This one saved my family's life.

It gave us meaning,

Activities,

Connection,

Food,

Financial help,

And a foundation.

I taught Sunday school,

Which was done on weekdays,

Played guitar during Mass,

And participated in all social activities such as visiting the elderly asylums and orphanages,

Outreach to the favelas,

Organizing the St.

John's festivals,

And others.

Our church taught the concept of heaven and hell.

We were told that we should fear God,

Who warned humanity through lightning and thunder in the sky,

The Ten Commandments,

And the concept of right and wrong.

Fast forward 20 years,

When I was attending a confirmation meeting at the local church in Rhinebeck,

New York,

For the parents of teenagers who were two days away from receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation.

This is when they confirmed the decision their parents made for them when they were baptized before their first birthday.

A priest,

Likely to be in his late sixties,

Dressed with an unfriendly attitude and a cold demeanor,

Affirmed that anyone who didn't attend Mass would go to hell.

He was very different from the youth priests who joked,

Played soccer,

And talked to you as if you were a loved child of God.

And the God I met in prayers and meditations,

Read about in books,

And experienced as good and kind,

Would not send people to hell simply because they didn't attend long and tedious Sunday Masses.

But,

Nevertheless,

I didn't speak up when the priest made that statement.

That day,

I awakened to my true faith and broke the shell of religion.

I know that the God who gave people free will and equality wouldn't be a sadist SOB who would burn his children in hell if they didn't make the choice he wanted.

That just made no sense to me.

However,

When breaking the shell of religion,

I caution you to look within and deepen your connection with your Creator.

I believe that religion and spirituality are two separate entities,

One cages and the other frees.

I believe you can still find good in religion,

But only as a place to begin restoring hope in the world,

Providing relief for the needy,

And creating a connection with a higher power.

Places that give us absolutes cut our voices,

And our voices are gifts from God.

All God's creation is meant to be free.

What are the religious shells you need to break through?

7.

Self.

The seventh shell is the one we create with our conclusions.

It isn't related to our families,

Communities,

Or religions,

But to our own thoughts derived from our experiences.

These shells are beliefs we have about ourselves,

Such as,

I'm ugly,

I'm stupid,

I can't cook,

Or anything else that destroys our self-worth.

These erroneous thoughts come from weak moments when we need to create some explanation for what's happening in our lives.

If a woman can't get a date,

For example,

She believes it's because of her looks.

If she can't get a job,

She assumes it's because she's stupid or incompetent.

If she can't make friends,

She concludes that it's because of some flaw in her personality.

If this is what you experience,

I would like you to consider that your thoughts are creating your life.

Women who don't trust men tend to find untrustworthy partners.

Women who complain about people tend to attract people who give them reasons to complain.

When you identify and break the pattern of thought that puts you down,

You'll open the door to your authentic voice,

Which will set free the energy you seek to attract.

What are the self-shells that you need to break through?

Break the seven shells.

The spiritual practice to break any of the seven shells that interfere with your authentic voice is a form of journaling meditation.

There are five steps.

Below is a sample of the exercise.

A.

Identify the shell you want to break.

Then,

Write it down in your journal or the book companion what you believe and how you act that perpetuates this shell.

B.

What's your truth that's different from this shell?

C.

Reflect on the cost to you of keeping this shell in place.

D.

What's the cost to others of keeping this shell in place?

E.

Create a new belief to break the shell.

The practice.

Find a place where you won't be disturbed for 20 to 25 minutes.

Perhaps light a candle or burn incense.

Set the intention to break one shell at a time.

You can say the intention out loud or to yourself.

Grab your journal or the book companion and a pen and set them in front of you.

Close your eyes and take three long,

Deep breaths.

Then,

Say out loud,

This is a sacred space.

This is a sacred space.

This house is a sacred space.

1.

Select the shell to break through.

Using your journal or the book companion,

Write the name of the shell and what beliefs exist in that shell,

How you behave as a result,

And what bothers you about it.

Write everything that comes to mind about the beliefs surrounding this shell.

Spend some time there.

There's no right or wrong way to do this.

Whatever feels right is fine.

You will know when you find the critical issues because you'll realize they've been a source of frustration or pain in your life.

2.

Close your eyes and place your attention on your throat chakra.

Ask for your truth.

You can use your dominant hand to touch your throat.

Once you confirm what you already know,

Write it down.

3.

Consider the cost to you of not following your truth.

Find at least three costs and write them down.

4.

Consider the cost to others if you do not follow your truth.

Find at least three costs and write them down.

5.

Write your authentic belief.

This is the part where you write down your truth.

Here is an example of how to do this practice.

In this scenario,

I am using the shell of the mother.

1.

Mother shell.

My mother wants to control my life.

She calls all the time and comes over unannounced.

She's always telling me what to do.

She criticizes the way I dress and buys me clothes I don't like.

She thinks I can't take care of myself.

2.

My truth.

I'm a grown-up and I don't need my mother to make decisions for me.

3.

The cost to me.

If I keep allowing my mother to interfere in my life,

I won't be my own person.

I will become her and I'll live her life,

Not my own.

4.

The cost to others.

If I keep allowing my mother to interfere in my life,

She won't deal with her issues.

She'll torment me forever and our relationship will suffer.

5.

The new belief.

Telling myself and my mother I'm a strong woman and ready to learn from my mistakes.

The voice and the lies.

There's a story about the voice who lived in the forest and was friendly and kind to everyone.

Every year,

The voice visited the friends who didn't have the means to see anyone.

One of her friends was the mountain.

So,

Every first week of spring,

The voice and the mountain spent a week together,

Connecting and exchanging stories from the past year.

The voice left the forest,

Charging up to see the mountain,

Full of anticipation and excitement.

On the way,

The voice met with the lie,

And they had a casual conversation.

6.

Where are you heading?

Asked the lie.

I'm going to visit the mountain,

Said the voice.

It's their annual visit.

They have been doing the long week visits for decades.

Ah,

I thought you were going to the music festival by the village.

Music festival?

Asked the voice,

With the puzzled look in her eyes.

Yes,

The spring music festival is now held the first three days of spring.

I didn't know that.

It's a pity you're going to miss it.

Everyone was expecting to hear you sing and share your songs with them.

You know,

You're one of the stars of the festival,

Enticed the lie.

I am?

Yes,

Didn't you get the invitation?

No,

I didn't.

The voice looked a little sad,

And wondered if she was overlooked since she didn't get an invitation.

Your picture is on the cover of the posters.

We only added two of your photos,

So no one would think we promoted you too much.

You know,

You're the only one allowed to perform all three days.

People just love you.

They do?

Yes.

Why don't you shorten your visit to the mountain and go to the festival?

You can be with the mountain in four days.

The voice remembered the last concerts where she got a standing ovation,

And everyone loved her performance.

People threw flowers on stage,

And there was a long line of people who wanted to see her.

She was delighted.

Oh,

I'm not sure,

But singing at the festival would be fun,

Contemplated the voice.

The lie got closer to the voice,

And whispered in her ear,

Even though there was no one around.

Would you rather disappoint one friend for three days,

Or hundreds of fans for a year?

Just tell the mountain that you were sick with a sore throat or something,

And didn't know if you might make her ill.

No one will be mad at you.

What she doesn't know won't hurt her.

The voice took a long breath,

Thought for a quick minute,

And decided to go to the festival.

She would visit her mountain friend afterwards.

On the first day of the festival,

The voice sang beautifully and laughed with old friends.

But at the end of the day,

However,

The voice felt a bit guilty for ditching the mountain.

On the second day,

The voice was a star.

More people came to hear her sing and perform her most popular songs.

At night,

Before falling asleep,

She felt a bit sad,

Thinking that the mountain may find out that she was at the festival.

The voice was so popular on the third day that they decided to extend the festival for one more day.

It was utterly busy,

And the venue didn't have space for all the fans who came to see her last performance.

Although happy with the turnout,

The voice felt a knot in her throat when she knew she couldn't leave for the mountain the next day.

On the fourth day,

The voice was terrific.

She got a standing ovation again.

She was the only one performing that day,

And the show ran an hour longer because she also shared stories and how much she loved to sing.

As the fans came in to congratulate her at the end of the show,

She felt a bit distant from all.

On the fifth day,

The voice was exhausted.

She wanted to get up early and head to see the mountain,

But she couldn't.

She slept all day.

On the sixth day,

The voice left to see the mountain and felt really bad that she shortened the visit by five days instead of the three days as planned.

She didn't know how the mountain would react,

And she worried that perhaps their friendship would break or at least become distant.

The voice didn't want their friendship to change,

So she began to think of the excuses she could tell the mountain for not keeping their agreement.

When the voice arrived at the mountain,

The mountain was surprised.

The voice immediately cleared her throat and said,

I'm sorry I'm late,

But I was very sick,

Too sick to send a message.

First I had diarrhea,

Then a sore throat,

Then a toothache and a migraine.

I stayed in bed all day.

I feel really sorry,

But I was just too,

Too sick.

Even my back hurt.

I tried to get up and force myself to come,

But I was just too sick.

I'm sorry to hear that,

My friend,

Said the mountain.

I thought you went to the music festival because it's your favorite event of the year,

But once I heard that the festival dates were changed,

I didn't expect you to come at all.

Poor thing,

And you also missed the festival.

Your fans must be devastated.

The voice barely talked for the rest of her stay,

And when she did,

She had to clear her throat.

On her way home,

She worried that the mountain would eventually find out the truth.

Over the years,

The voice experienced anxiety and constantly had to clear her throat,

Which caused her to damage her vocal cords.

As a result,

The voice never sang as well as she did in that spring music festival.

This story represents women and the lengths we go to meet our needs without hurting other people's feelings.

We might lie and walk on eggshells,

Covering our lies with other lies.

Often we use the no-one-gets-hurt types of lies to meet our false needs,

Going to a festival or staying home as a legit need.

The false need is lying to avoid hurting the feelings of others when we have no control over how people feel if we take the path of our truth.

Instead,

We become disloyal to our authentic voice.

Over time,

This behavior,

Which is regularly considered innocent,

Leads us to dishonor ourselves.

For example,

When we decline an invitation,

We can say,

No thank you,

I can't make it,

I need some downtime.

Instead,

We tell others that we are ill.

We then anticipate how others may react,

And we're often wrong.

And even if they're upset,

It isn't our responsibility to prevent their upset.

We have a right to say no.

How do you feel about white lies?

Unfortunately,

Even those seemingly small lies deplete your power.

The biggest problem with lying is that we compromise our integrity.

In other words,

Lying shows the universe that we don't honor who we are and what we want.

It may seem harsh to call little lies dishonesty when all we want is to have a quiet night instead of hanging out with people we don't feel like engaging with.

Telling people we have a headache instead doesn't seem to cause any harm to anyone,

But it does damage us.

The most significant detriment to the self is that when we lie,

We tell our subconscious that we can't be trusted.

Teaching Children to Lie The amazing power of authenticity begins to compromise in childhood when children learn to lie to their parents,

Usually unintentionally.

When my daughter Erica was in the second grade,

Her teacher gave the class an assignment to write a few sentences and draw a picture of their family.

She was six years old,

So she drew her parents.

My husband and I were separated.

Her sister,

Step-sisters,

Uncle and aunt,

Godmother,

And god-siblings.

When she turned the homework in,

Mr.

Smith,

The teacher,

Corrected her that her family was only her parents and sisters,

Asking her to redo it.

She came home that day and told me what had happened.

I was furious at his lack of sensitivity and cultural awareness.

The next day,

I went to the school to give the teacher a peace of my mind and a social lesson.

In the Latin community,

It's common to include extended family members as part of the immediate family.

Immigrants in America also count friends as family.

We call our close neighbors,

Friends,

And even teachers aunt or uncle.

My main point was that we don't tell a six-year-old who isn't part of her family.

He apologized,

But my daughter was sad because she liked Mr.

Smith a lot.

From that time on,

My daughters were afraid to tell me anything that could get a reaction out of me.

Both of them began to lie or withhold the truth.

Now,

Who taught them to lie?

I did.

I didn't have to show them how.

Like every human being,

They figured it out on their own,

But I introduced them to the need to lie to protect themselves and the people they love.

We all want to be loved and accepted.

Lying seems to be a small price to pay to keep our parents' love and acceptance.

But unfortunately,

When we lie,

We diminish our authenticity power.

When we decide to become more authentic,

We accept our choices and the consequences of our actions.

Often,

It isn't as bad as we think.

It's easy to stop lying even if we have become accustomed to it.

It only requires awareness.

Recently,

I got invited to a family birthday party,

And I RSVP'd that I would attend.

A few days later,

I realized that I had double-booked myself with a commitment to meet with close friends.

I mixed up the weeks.

My first thought was to call my family and tell them that I was called into work.

I didn't want them to find out that I preferred to see my friends.

But after a couple of days,

I decided to own my choice.

I told my family that I double-booked myself and wouldn't go to the birthday party,

But I would stop by to celebrate with them another time.

It wasn't difficult to tell the truth.

I certainly didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings.

I want the people in my life to feel valued and loved,

Just as most people do.

But our primary responsibility is to ourselves.

That's authenticity.

Can you afford your authenticity?

Would you sell your hand for a million dollars?

How about one of your legs for two million dollars?

Three million dollars for one eye?

Most people would rather keep their body parts than have the money.

Not being authentic is the same as not having an arm or a leg.

It's a vital part of who you are,

And no price can make up for it.

You could still go on living without one arm or your authenticity,

But powerful women would certainly avoid it.

When we don't authentically express ourselves,

It's because of fear,

Which leads us to act in a way that doesn't honor our spirit.

Some people put themselves down with phrases like,

I'm ugly,

I'm not that creative,

I'm goofy,

Etc.

Begin to pay attention to when you put yourself down and make a mental note.

Don't do it,

Even if it gets you a laugh from others.

It disempowers you.

Plus,

Your spirit knows your value,

And those derogatory names are not who you are.

You may feel that you don't know who you are.

If that's true,

Grab a cup of tea,

Play some of your favorite songs,

And ask yourself,

Who am I?

Keep asking it multiple times.

As you hear words like,

I'm a mother,

A dentist,

Or a wife,

Remember that these are your roles.

You are not your roles in life.

If you hear,

I'm happy,

I'm angry,

Or I'm tired,

Remember that these are emotions.

You are not your emotions.

When you collapse all of the extensions of I am blank,

The identifications created to separate you from humanity and give you an assigned space too small to fit you,

You become the enormous I am.

The I am is all.

You are a divine,

Eternal energy being,

Creator of ginormous expansion with a mission of living your purpose.

You may not remember that you signed up for what people describe as your calling,

But be still,

And you'll remember it.

It's only a few meditations away.

You are special.

You are essential for the world.

What you do is unique,

And no one does it just the way you do.

There is only one of you in the universe,

And your power cannot be duplicated.

You may have had parents,

Partners,

Families,

And communities that influenced you to be someone other than who you are,

But it isn't too late,

And you aren't too old to be fully you.

You can unbecome the roles,

Emotions,

And even personalities that brought you to be the person reading this book.

Finding your authenticity is owning the spirit of your voice.

What have you been trying to say to the world?

What have you been trying to do?

Could you awaken the spirit of your truth?

As you read these words,

How do you feel?

Can you accept your magnificent nature?

Are you still questioning your level of grace because you may not have a career,

A big job,

Or some type of special art?

If you are,

Please stop.

Don't identify with your roles in life or compare yourself to others.

Don't even put yourself down if you feel you haven't yet determined your calling.

There are millions of reasons why you are where you are right now,

So breathe in this very moment.

Feel your feet and your hands.

Look at them.

Can you feel the area behind your neck?

Can you be grateful for your eyes and the breath that keeps you alive?

Your life is a web.

The millions of connections you've made and the ones to come have a universal understanding of your contributions to life,

Too grand to be fully understood.

Perhaps you said something to a friend in high school that helped her avoid the wrong path.

Maybe you offered coffee to a neighbor who got delayed going to the supermarket and avoided a car crash.

Perhaps you signed up to be guardians of your children who will grow up to make local changes with significant consequences in the world.

The uniqueness of your DNA is not an accident.

Now that you are beginning to understand how brilliant you are,

Would you put yourself down or allow others to do it?

Your authenticity power is your free and wild spirit that has nothing to defend or protect.

Your freedom of being is fundamental to building the world we're recreating for our children and grandchildren.

Keep asking questions such as,

What do I want to do?

Where do I want to live?

Are these my choices or someone else's?

Am I overcompromising?

What are my boundaries?

These questions will give you an idea of the level of authenticity you have and the starting point to become as authentic as you desire.

Remember who you are.

To strengthen your power,

You need to accept the woman you really are and release the need to explain yourself.

Silence is a great and viable form of communication.

Do you know who you are?

Or better yet,

Do you know who you are becoming?

When we work with the power of authenticity,

We begin to question choices we made from a place of outer expectations.

This may lead us to end long-term relationships,

Move to another state,

Change careers,

Or renegotiate relationships.

Divorce records are full of women who tried to fit into a role assigned by their parents,

Partners,

Religion,

Or their own ideas of marriage.

On the other hand,

Authenticity is the alignment of your thoughts and words with your actions.

Get behind your desires and everything else will fall into place.

If you feel your goals and desires are too big or inappropriate for women of your age,

Race,

Looks,

Or education,

You will sabotage your spirit.

When I got divorced after 14 years of together,

I didn't know who I was,

What I liked,

Or what I wanted to do outside of finding peace of mind.

This wasn't my husband's fault.

Before being with him,

I loved listening to Brazilian bossa nova music,

Going to the theater,

Watching documentaries,

Reading esoteric literature,

Playing guitar,

Entertaining friends,

Going to the movies alone,

Dancing,

And more.

About a year after my marriage ended,

I realized that I had stopped doing all of those things I loved.

It took me a while to find myself again.

When I finally did,

It was a better version of me.

I was more mature,

Confident,

Happy,

Spiritual,

Creative,

And even looked younger.

I have the pictures to prove it.

Happiness and meditation will make you look younger.

It isn't unusual for us to forget who we are and what we want when we're very busy.

Women have many priorities and a long list of expectations placed on us,

And we've adopted them because our mothers did,

And their mothers before them.

After all,

We feel the need to be accepted by our lovers and communities.

But we women have a voice,

And we need to express it for our good and the good of our families,

Communities,

And the world.

Make your expression count by being who you are or who you are meant to become.

The power to express our authentic selves is priceless.

We can't sell ourselves short.

There have been too many people who have done that for us.

It's time to be you,

The one and only who will never be duplicated in all of history.

Your voice is needed in your home,

Schools,

Community,

Work,

Government,

Boardrooms,

And everywhere women go.

The world needs a female perspective on everything,

And that's where you come into play.

Of course,

Not every one of you will become the president of a nation,

But how about your daughters and granddaughters?

Perhaps you are opening the door for them to contemplate what is possible.

Women are powerful.

Body,

Mind,

And Wisdom School.

Here are four additional suggestions for you to improve your power of authenticity.

One,

Discover who you are and what you want.

People are constantly changing.

Life is changing.

Nothing stays still.

You must find who you are becoming now,

Due to your learning,

Living,

And detaching from your past shells.

Consider that what you think is changing is just the release of the layers of misinformation you've held.

Now,

You're at a higher level of awareness.

Ask yourself out loud,

Who am I?

What do I want?

Keep asking multiple times until you know for sure.

Pull out your journal or the book companion and begin to answer these two important questions.

Who am I?

And what do I want?

Write anything that comes to mind.

Two,

Mind your words.

As you reawaken the power of authenticity,

It will be necessary to mind your words.

Women are known for saying,

I'm sorry for no reason.

If you bump into someone,

Of course,

Say you're sorry.

But stop saying it when you need to make a statement.

Be heard or ask for what you want.

Also,

Stop discrediting yourself and relinquishing authority.

A few words to add to your vocabulary.

A few words to remove from your vocabulary.

I have a great idea.

I am sorry.

Would you be open to some feedback?

May I be honest with you?

Yes,

And?

Yes,

But?

No,

Thank you.

I have previous arrangements.

Because I have a headache.

It sounds lovely,

But I won't be able to attend.

Sorry,

I can't make it.

Three,

Speak your truth.

I believe there are ways to say anything without offending someone or discrediting yourself.

Speaking your mind is different from speaking your truth,

However.

Speaking your mind is often accompanied by frustration,

Anger,

Hurt,

And maybe a long string of profanity.

Speaking your truth is surrounded by peace.

When you practice the power of authenticity,

You work from your truth instead of discomfort.

Four,

Stop lying.

When we lie,

We don't fool anyone but ourselves.

Yes,

Our parents taught us to lie,

But we're grown up now.

When we lie,

We are attempting to be accepted,

But our integrity is compromised.

The moment we decide to tell the truth with kindness,

Our power of authenticity increases.

My dear women,

Release your voice.

A strong woman with an authentic voice is powerful,

Beautiful,

And timeless.

You may think that what you have to share has been said before,

But not the way you do it.

Your pain is your cause.

You can open the way or keep it uncluttered with your support.

We're all waiting to see what you do.