Good morning…
This semester in my Monday, Wednesday, and Friday classes, the book we are discussing chapter by chapter is Brene Brown’s The Gifts of Imperfection. On page 53, Brene writes:
“If you’re like me, practicing authenticity can feel like a daunting choice – there’s risk involved in putting your true self out into the world. But I believe there’s more risk in hiding yourself and your gifts from the world. Our unexpressed ideas, opinions, and contributions don’t just go away. They are likely to fester and eat away at our worthiness. I think we should be born with a warning label similar to the ones that come on cigarette packages: Caution: If you trade your authenticity for safety, you may experience the following: anxiety, depression, eating disorders, addiction, rage, blame, resentment, and inexplicable grief. Sacrificing who we are for the sake of what other people think just isn’t worth it. Yes, there can be authenticity growing pains for the people around us, but in the end, being true to ourselves is the best gift we can give the people we love.”
Dropping down beneath the surface of ourselves to become the person God created us to be takes time, takes courage, takes a strong desire to be our whole, true selves. Once, with God’s help, we grow comfortable in our own skin, we can regularly unpack who we truly are with our trusted companions. With the support of inner circle friends bolstering us, we then take our true selves out into the world, sharing our hopes and our hurts, our fears and our faith. Our Creator crafted us uniquely so our creative gifts are designed to bless the world. Why not shed old, constricting habits to risk becoming the authentic person God yearns for you to be?
You’re done with that old life. It’s like a filthy set of ill-fitting clothes you’ve stripped off and put in the fire. Now you’re dressed in a new wardrobe. Every item of your new way of life is custom-made by the Creator, with his label on it, Colossians 3:9b-10 (MSG),
Sue
