Editor’s note: I originally posted this in October 2008. Now, one year later, I’m revisiting authenticity. Enjoy!
I have found it – the definition of authenticity! Sure, there are plenty of Toms, Dicks, and Harrys out there who claim to know all about “authentic” life styles. They say, “Listen to me. I can guide you to happiness!” Then they charge you an arm and a leg. But I think I have found the real definition of authenticity. Here it is, for free I might add. (You’re welcome!)
It comes by way of Brian Goldman, a graduate student at the University of Georgia in Athens. He was digging through centuries-old research and philosophy when he uncovered what I think is a pretty great definition:
“The unimpeded operations of one’s true or core self in one’s daily enterprise.”
Ohhh … pretty! How simple and sweet is that, huh?
I agree completely with it too, which you probably already knew because I’ve been using the same definition of authenticity for quite sometime now.
Another one of my favorites is Neil Lark Warren’s 10 Characteristics in Finding Contentment. I’ve also recently been struck by so-called physical acts of authenticity, which the authors outlined in a newer issue of Psychology Today.
These physical acts of authenticity are:
1. Meditate. Think of it only as a way to get to your “happy place,” not a technique to influence outside forces. For instance, why do you work? To earn money to buy pretty things. Why do you meditate? To achieve internal happiness. I can handle that.
2. Be Deliberate. Be conscious that you have choices. You can choose to change (lol–”I choose change!”), or you can choose to stick with what you have. You can choose to move forward, go backward, or do nothing at all. Being deliberate simply means acting consciously, with purpose.
3. Act Intuitively. Sure, you got me; this runs counter to No. 2. But as we’ve talked about before, acting consciously can sometimes be detrimental when too much rationalizing and reasoning gets in the way of your gut feelings. Don’t be afraid to follow your instincts. They’re there to guide you forward.
4. Create Solitude. There’s nothing like shutting down–on purpose–so you can recharge. We’re talking power down your blackberry, shut your door, turn off the TV and the laptop, and provide yourself the space to just thing and be. Authentic people regularly look inside and listen to their intuition, but they can’t do this with all the chaos of the modern world swirling around them.
5. Stay Connected. Thomas Moore, author of A Life at Work, says, “Community is an outlook toward life in which you define yourself in relation to the world around you, rather than only in connection with yourself.” Community, he is saying, is a way to enlarge our own sense of self.
6. Play Hard. Don’t hold back when doing what you really love, whether it’s tennis, running, art, dancing. It allows you to fully express who you are at your core.
7. Be Willing to Lose. Authentic people know that failure is part of growing. You must be willing to stare down your failures, learn from them, and move forward if you are to live an authentic life.
I take no credit for the above definitions. But I wholeheartedly believe in the importance of taking personal responsibility for life’s challenges. That means peering inside for answers on why we do what we do, feel what we feel, and think what we think. It’s only through an authentic life that we can look internally, and take personal responsibility. Personal responsibility is the genius of change!
Popularity: 48% [?]
A client said to me, “I’m just trying to be more mindful. Most people don’t even know what that is.”
You know what? I think he’s right. If I had to sum up mindfulness in one sentence, it would be: To think about what you’re thinking about.
The purpose of mindful meditation is to become aware of the present moment without any pressure to do, think, or be anything other than what you are doing, thinking, or being at that very moment.
No need to worry about the past because it has already happened. No need to contemplate the future because it hasn’t yet happened. Just bring awareness to this very moment, as it is, without any judgment, because our present moment is always changing.
Sri Swami Venkatesananda suggests that you can ruin the practice of meditation by stating the benefits of meditation, because you introduce a goal into something meant to be goal-less.
He says, “The moment you introduce a goal to meditation, it is gone. Happiness in life comes not by manipulating what you want to achieve but by paying attention to something seemingly totally unconnected with it.”
I would agree. However, I might be getting way of head for those of you who are already scratching your head and wondering, “I don’t even know what this meditation thing is and why it’s important to do, let alone how to ruin it!”
For those of you out there, here are the first steps, the essential how-tos, the building blocks to success. Your simple guide.
In this one article here, I will not only list reasons to meditate, but make the practice of meditation easy.
The List of Reasons Why You Should Meditate
1. Heal your mind and your body. Because your body and your mind are intimately connected, it’s important to know how your thoughts, beliefs, and emotions affect the physical well-being of your body. Prolonged stress without relief, for example, can cause headaches, upset stomach, high blood pressure, heart problems, and high cholesterol and can contribute to depression and anxiety symptoms. Want more on this connection? Read WebMD’s article on the stress’ effects.
2. Escape the noise. Our lives are filled with noise. All three kinds of noise:
- Physical noise like people’s talking, music, television, or anything externally that distracts your immediate train of thought.
- Psychological noise of your judgments, thoughts, beliefs, assumptions, and internal biases you bring to every conversation or situation.
- Physiological noise like a headache, stomachache, or other bodily functions that may disrupt your current train of thought.
Meditation is a practice to free you from all three. It helps you create a quiet space for yourself where you put your judgments, stereotypes, and biases aside and distance your mind from any physical symptoms you may feel at the present moment.
3. Improve mood and immune function. Research suggests mindfulness meditation helps with a whole host of conditions. For instance, mindful meditation seems to help ease the symptoms of anxiety, and practitioners in one study had a better immune response to the flu vaccine than those who did not meditate.
Another study found that cancer patients who did mindfulness meditation for seven weeks had 31% lower stress symptoms and 67% less mood disturbance than those who did not meditate.
The National Institute of Health’s Center of Complimentary and Alternative Medicine has done research on the effects of meditation on various ailments, including eating disorders, rheumatoid arthritis, heart disease, HIV, depression, and lower back pain. Results in all these studies looked good.
The Purpose of Meditation
Meditation doesn’t have to be involve you sitting Indian-style wearing a robe (though there is a reason this image is part of the tradition–which I’ll touch upon in Part 2).
Really, to get started, all you need is the intention to quiet your mind.
Why quiet your mind? That noise we talked about before, remember?
Also, by quieting your mind, you are then able to actually HEAR yourself THINK.
If you’ve followed all my posts here, you’ll know that I wholeheartedly believe in the power of your thoughts. They control your every emotion and action. So you better know what you’re thinking!
I tell my clients–and now I’m telling you: You need to think about what you’re thinking about. It’s a very important aspect of change. But it’s not easy to do unless you quiet your mind.
OK, OK, you get it. But after all this talk about quieting your mind, how do you do it? Stay tuned! If your taste buds have been tempted, you won’t want to miss Part 2 of Meditation Made Easy!
Popularity: 38% [?]
photo credit: BrittneyBush
“What a difference a day makes,” I said as I looked around my home this morning, the day after an impromptu cookout with my friends. Five children and eight adults all having a great time, you can imagine the aftermath!
As soon as I said it, I thought a little bit deeper about that statement.
What a difference a day makes.
I love the song by the Miriam Dee Band, especially the part where Miriam belts out, “Twenty-four little hours, brought the sun and the flowers, where there used be rain. …” Time does change things, but >> More..
Popularity: 15% [?]
It’s not unusual to hear about the dangers related to situations such as illegal drugs, alcohol abuse, addition to pornography, and teenage sex. All of these situations can lead to unhealthy lifestyles or consequences that take a toil on physical and mental health. Today, I want to point out something that doesn’t ever seem to be included in the “dangerous†category even though it can cause just as many problems as these other issues can. Surprisingly, what I’m talking about, is boredom.
Now I know that the title of this article is “An Unacknowledged Danger.†This is somewhat misleading although I stick by my decision to use these words. You see, there is quite a bit of research on boredom – what it actually is, what causes it, and how it affects our bodies. But even though this research is there, you don’t hear much about boredom, and certainly not in relation to how it can hurt us. So in many ways this “mood†and what it causes is unacknowledged. Not anymore.
I’m sure you know people (or are one of those people) who learned, as a child, never to say, “I’m bored…there’s nothing to do.†That’s because your mom or grandmother or aunt instantly placed a broom in your hand or gave you some other chore to keep you busy.
Although this usually stopped the complaints, it turns out that there is a better solution. I’ll get to that in a second. But first, let’s discuss the bad effects of boredom. You see, people who are bored are at greater risk of developing anxiety, depression, and drug or alcohol addiction; displays of anger, aggressive behaviour and lack of interpersonal skills; and poor performance at work and school. (Stephen Vodanovich, University of West Florida) Simple boredom can cause all of this?! Shocking? Read on…
Many people, especially men, attribute boredom to a lack of excitement in their environment. But this is actually part of the problem, not the cause of boredom. Our brains are constantly searching for external stimuli that excites us, that is new to us. Yet when our brains get that, they just want more and more. It turns out they’re quite greedy in that respect. This need for more and more external stimuli causes a type of “chaos†in the brain, a longing for external excitement that drives people towards destructive behaviour. So this begs the question, if more novelty doesn’t quench boredom, what does?
Oddly enough, it turns out that the solution to this uneasy state isn’t more activity; it’s less. A current study from Scientific American Mind found that low levels of distraction may cause people to label an activity as boring. On the other hand, participants who didn’t have any distractions found more enjoyment in the exact same activity.
This supports a few theories regarding attention and boredom. One theory says that boredom is essentially the struggle to maintain attention…in essence, “to go within.†Another theory touted by Waterloo Psychologist, Al Cheyne, says that, “Attention is the common link between lack of meaning, depression, and boredom.†So in other words, boredom may be caused in part by a lack of attention. Another way to say this is that distraction may cause boredom.
So here’s the way I look at it. If being in a state of boredom brings about negative consequences to our body, mind, and possibly our futures then we need to find ways to stay away from it. And if attention is the solution to boredom, we need to increase our capacity and ability to pay attention. Although I know this sounds like an uncomplicated answer to a complicated issue, it really makes perfect sense. Attention is linked with the ancient practices of yoga and meditation which are considered by many to be as necessary as eating food or drinking water for vitality and health. And attention is linked with many spiritual practices such as prayer, fasting, and sacred ceremonies; things that cause peace and contentment for many.
Since this “skill†is so valuable, let’s try and nurture it so that we can grow in our ability to pay attention. Here are my suggestions to do just that:
- Train yourself to see the world differently. Look at things through a new lens of appreciation and gratitude. Doing this tends to bring your attention to the present.
- Become mindful. Do this by becoming aware of what is taking place inside and outside of you. Notice these things but don’t engage in making judgements or forming opinions. Just become aware of what is happening.
- Learn from boredom. When you feel bored, stop and accept the experience. When you become aware that you are feeling that, it means that you are paying attention to the actual moment. The more you do this, the less boredom you should experience.
So, the next time you are bored, it turns out that you don’t need to find something to do. Instead, just be. Just be aware of the moment and sit with it. As crazy as it sounds, doing nothing may stop complaints such as:
“There’s nothing to do; I’m bored!â€
© 2008 I Choose Change
See I Choose Change’s Article Page.
WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR WEB SITE? No problem, as long as you include the following blurb at the conclusion of the article: I Choose Change is helping you live according to your True Self. If you’re interested in having a more fulfilled, balanced, and purposeful personal and professional life, get your FREE information now at http://www.ichoosechange.com.
Popularity: 8% [?]
