What does "authentic" mean?

Photo by Andrej Lisakov on Unsplash

Having an authentic life and being authentic. “Authentic'' is a word that we don't use very often in our day to day life. What does it really mean and why is it so important to be authentic and to have an authentic life?

Accept being different.

We are all different. We have different backgrounds, cultures, origins, personal stories. We were raised in a different way. We come from different countries where people have different values. But at the same time, we live in the same society, in the same world at the same time. It has been for ever that people are being influenced by what other people think, about what is more or less important according to the society. Our parents, our friends, our neighbors, the Instagram celebrities, the TV speakers, they all tell us that we should look, talk, think and act in a certain way following some standards (they could be trendy standards or society long existing standards). Some people think that you have to be married and have children by the age of 30, others think that by this age you have to have built your own business or at least, have become successful in your professional field. 

Why am I telling you all that? I can continue giving examples, but I think you got the point. The point is that we are all different and we have to accept it and embrace it. There is no one better or worse. Everybody is better than someone else in some area of life and worse than the same person in another.

Being authentic means being real, being real to your true self and accepting it even if you are not good enough in something because you know that you are good enough in something else. Your imperfections are making you a unique human being who deserves to live and wear with confidence their differences. 

I have been told many times that I laugh to loud, that I don't have to say some things, that I don't have to think in a certain way, that is inappropriate to ask certain questions but you know what? This is who I am, and I don't have to be what other people think I should be. Being your true self is what makes you different form the others. The world doesn't need billions of versions of one person. The world needs billions of different people with different skills, knowledge, cultures so we could all learn from each other and become better people. 

Do not be affraid of being rejected or judged.

But it takes courage to show your true self to the others without having the fear of rejection. And when you live your authentic life, you will meet rejection and judgment a lot! But knowing who you are, what you have achieved as a person, knowing that you matter and all that even if you don’t fit in the society norms, is one of the most powerful things in the world. 

Believing in your own power, believing that you are a beautiful human being even though you are imperfect, silly and maybe a little bit too spontaneous. And let's be honest – reaching perfection is not possible! I have tried for years to be perfect and the thing that I learned so far is that perfection is not possible, perfection is not beautiful. Why isn’t it beautiful? Because it doesn’t feel “normal”, like something is wrong, it is un-natural. Only the nature itself is perfect, but people are not. And they can not be. People are beautiful because they are imperfect, because sometimes they say awkward things but they are ok with that. If you want to know more about my thoughts on this topic, check out my blog post Be smart and stop trying to be perfect .

Show your true self to the world.

Being authentic is being able to show your soul to the world. The most powerful thing one could do. Your soul is your internal light which makes people being so thrown towards you. This is why we say that someone is so charming, so attractive and we want to be around this person. It is because this person is authentic, real, true not false, not somebody else that they believe they should be but they are not.

Be the change.

My blog is called Elena 's Authentic Life for this reason – to empower people being their true self no matter how scary and out of the norms this is. Don't be scared to be who you are, don't be scared to say that you like Justin Bieber (I do! He is great.), don't be scared to share your passions, your opinions and your values. Be the change in this world by showing to everyone your inner child without any fear or regret! The world has so much to learn form you. We are the teachers and the students. Let's learn together! Love, Elena