Meditating on authenticity has produced many lessons and knowings. I now know that..

.. Being introspective is sort of like shaking one of those snow globes. All the pieces of your life that you thought had carefully settled like sediment are truly alive and active when a slight wind blows. The goal then becomes not to let it drift to the bottom again, but to do the next step that will act as a sieve and catch those pieces.

.. When you’re not expecting those buried pieces to be alive, and you’re not prepared to deal with it, you have to be in it to get through it.

.. Authentic is the only true way to live. Everything else is unfulfilling, superficial, and unsettling.

.. Authenticity is about returning and magnifying who you are, instead of trying to become someone who you think you should be. It’s about peeling off the false adornments and standing wholly, holy, and true.

... You have to go deep to really do the work. That means examining what’s under the surface and then go six feet deeper than that.

.. You have to question your motives. Is your motive to be comfortable? Is it to be liked? Is it to be accepted? Is it to be rescued? I will bet my last dollar that for many of us, there is at least one “yes” in there. I will bet that dollar after my last that I had hidden in my sock that your motives have a history that you don’t want to truly look at.

.. True friends—those that want nothing for you but peace, harmony, and joy—sometimes more than you want it for yourself—will rise to the surface. Those are the ones to listen to and commune with. You will know their voice because it’s authentic as well, and it speaks with no ulterior motives or projections. It may not tell you pretty things, but it will always speak in love.

.. Peace and joy are possible. It is already there every time you take a breath. Every time you come back to the present. Every time you pray. Every time you surrender. Every time you take one step.

Next up, my reflections on fear. Stay tuned.