Where have you been during COVID?
I don’t mean physically; I mean the real you.
The one that laughs when your toast lands butter side down because you know, in the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t really matter.
The one who smiles just because the sun is shining.
The one who sparkles as you sing along with Rick Astley because he’s “never gonna give you up.” (Ok that might just be me).
My question is, have you been able to be your most authentic self?
When uncertainty – and stress – take over we can take a deep dive in to safety. When the world literally declared it’s a scary place to be right now, it’s ok if you built a blanket fort, grabbed the Jaffa Cakes and ducked for cover.
Years of conditioning also mean we often sacrifice our own needs. We stretch our boundaries or put our goals on hold, to make sure everyone else is happy. And then one day, someone asks you a question: “what do you really like?”, and you genuinely answer “I don’t know…”.
The good news is, when all our fears, frustrations and programming are stripped away, the real you is underneath. But if the thought of unleashing your authentic self takes you to a place of vulnerability, here’s something you could try:
This week, set the intention to Return to You. One of the keys to knowing who you are, is recognising how you feel when you’re being true to yourself. When you know you’re not, often you get a sense or feeling from a deep place of wisdom that something feels ‘off’. Grab your notebook or diary and for the next seven days record when you notice that. It might be a roll in your stomach when you see the number of emails that need a reply, or from telling a white lie to a friend or colleague because you didn’t want to hurt their feelings. How do you know when you’re being true to yourself? If we think of the old iceberg metaphor, these days the majority of who we are is below the surface. As Mike Robbins explains in this video, you can start with the question “If my friends/colleagues really knew me (right now), they’d know this about me”. Focus on who you are in this moment, as that’s where authenticity lives. When we get real, amazing things can happen.
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Copyright Delphi Ellis
Helping You Sparkle™ 