The idea of authenticity has fascinated me lately because I feel like I hear it everywhere. 

The spiritual pop culture today is all about love and light.  Being authentic means rising above the darkness.

Well, what if your true authentic self is when you are lying, cheating or depressed as all hell?

What if your true self includes the darker aspects? The stuff that’s not appropriate to share according to the cultures standard.

The last couple weeks have been a time of shakin’ shit up.  I don’t know about you, but I have been hit with an overwhelm feeling multiple times making it difficult to find my feet and be in my light.  My darker side has been leading the way. 

For me, I go into deep depression and big emotional expressions.  

As much work that I have done to shift my life, times like these are hard for me not to judge or feel like I'm going backwards. 

Authenticity is surrounded with the expectation that your true self is the lightest part of you and this light part is the part that is only allowed to be expressed. 

But what do you do with the other parts of yourself?

There is a story about a grandfather teaching his grandson about life...it goes like this:

“There is a fight going on inside me” he said to the boy.

“It’s a terrible fight between two wolves.  One is evil.  He is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority and ego.”

“The other is good.  He is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.”

He continued “This fight is going on inside you too and inside every person out there.”

The grandson then asked “Which wolf will win?”

The grandfather replied “The one you feed.”

Talk about recognizing the polarity that lives inside each human!

If I were the grandfather I would add...

“There is not a bad wolf or a good wolf.  Both are here to teach.”

So this week I invite you to notice the wolves living inside you.  Which wolf do you feed more often? Do you judge one wolf over the other?

Judgement with these aspects keep us confided. 

What if we accepted both wolves?  What if we acknowledged the dark wolf and thank it but fed the light wolf?

To be truly authentic is to acknowledge all aspects of yourself.  Not only to acknowledge them but to own them. 

The dark side isn’t something to run from like a scary monster, but to invite in for a conversation.  There is always something to learn. 

Allowing the light to illuminate the dark is the only way to true authenticity. 

Learn more about authentic exploring here....Have fun exploring!

xo
Monique