Be Authentic.

To fully embrace your authentic self it is imperative to make some changes.  For some change is easy and for some ... oh, well.  How many people do you know that have become a carbon copy of someone they admire?  They get so consumed at being a carbon copy of that person they lose the fact that they are just a cheap copy and the authentic person inside them is screaming to come out.  Our creator made us a MASTERPIECE.  Great sculptors and artists produce works of greatness that are often deemed priceless.  You are PRICELESS.  There is not another fingerprint like yours.  Wear that which makes you "different" with class!!   Being your authentic self can feel over-whelming when life has dealt you a tough blow.  I know!!  It has taken me a lot of years to freely be able to admit I was a victim of domestic abuse but the taste of doing it got sweeter when I also realized I was a SURVIVOR.  I authentically know how to reach out to you through understanding the taste of salty tears.  Tears that come down your face meet under your chin and drop down to your chest.  You are not even trying to cry but the pain is so intense and we wear that "mask" tears can just flow.  Turning the pillow over in the middle of the night 'cause one side is wet with tears.  I have been there.  I made the decision one day to "get over it" and begin walking in a different direction.  A different direction away from the people, the places and the things that kept me in such a dysfunctional state of being.

It is time for you to take off your mask and be YOU.  There is something so incredible about returning to the things that make you smile.  Who were you before the abuse?  Who were you before your relationship nearly killed you?  Who were you before you lost your credit?  Who were you before you had children that happen to look like your abuser?  Who were you before you put on your mask to prevent people from knowing the terror you experience when you go home?  Who were you before you trusted your minister and he raped you and no one believed you?  Who were you before the foreclosure?  Who were you before the job loss?  Who were you before your car got repossessed?  Who were you before you had to get plastic surgery to restore what your abuser tried to take from you.  Where is that vibrant person?  That vibrant person is behind that mask.

I took off my mask.  I lost a lot of friends.  Family members just did not understand.  No one needs to understand.  The day you make up your mind to change YOURSELF for YOURSELF is the beginning of freedom.

Aren't you worth it?

People only throw shade on people who shine.  

Shine on!!