One of my most fundamental drives is to be free to be my authentic self. I’m guessing that this is true for almost everybody. However, I grew up in a home where this wasn’t encouraged. I also grew up in a religious culture that suppressed authentic expression of the self. The Church. This is why I eventually left the ministry and the Church in 2010. I no longer had the freedom to be my most authentic self within the confines they prescribed. This same drive drives me today in everything I do. I want everyone else… yes everyone else… to enjoy this same freedom. Of course, this is what is behind my value… “freedom for everyone except those who don’t want freedom for everyone”! It is healthy and good to walk away… if you can… from any relationship or situation that oppresses you or forces you to suppress your authentic self. I remember in the first Equalizer movie where he’s talking with a young sex worker. She makes music. He encourages her. She says she can’t do it. He says she can do whatever she wants and to go for it! She says, “Not in my world!” He responds, “Change your world!” That’s what I did. That’s what so many people I know have done too. What about you? In order to have the freedom to be your authentic self… Have you changed your world? Or… Do you need to? |