Put Your Lights On

So I was listening to webcast of Oprah's Life Lessons the other night, and reading Face-Book comments on her fb site.  I noticed several people posting messages concerning the attitude of  "faking it till you make it" as contradictory to being your Authentic Self. 

So is "faking it till you make it" being unauthentic?  I would have to say no, it is not.  If you have ever watched one of the makeover shows on television, you will find people who dress in inappropriate or frumpy ways and often their family and friends will nominate them to recieve a makeover.  They will point out that the way this person dresses is holding them back from recieving promotions at work, getting jobs that they want, or sometimes even from finding someone to be in a relationship with.

And what usually happens at first is the person may become defensive. "We'll this is my style.  I like looking like this.  I don't want to dress in a manner that is cookie cutter fashion.  That might work for you, but not for me.  What's wrong with my clothes?  I am comfortable wearing this."

And it won't matter how ratty, frumpy or over the top "sexy" (translate to slutty) they look, many of these people honestly believe that to wear a different style is to be false to who they are.  And it takes a major intervention to blast so many of the false beliefs out of that person's head.

Some people become defensive and angry.  Other's get frustrated because they want to please the people that are trying to show them a different way, and they try to follow the :"rules" but deep down they aren't convinced that this new style is going to accurately reflect who they see themselves to be.

But then an interesting thing happens.  It usually occurs after the new clothes are bought, hairstyle is changed, and makeup session complete. They see the whole package, and go into shock at first.  Suddenly they see a version of themselves that is in more alignment with who they felt they were deep down all along, and they come to recognize that the frumpier, outdated  version and style was really just hiding who they were inside.

So take this now, a step further.  When you are low on self-confidence, and you are told to fake it, to behave your way to sucess,  is that lack of confidence your true, authentic self?  Or is it a way to hide your inner light?  Your inner power?

Remember, F.E.A.R is simply, False Evidence Appearing Real.  When we start "faking" self-confidence and  success, an interesting thing occurs.  Our authentic self starts to emerge because our outside behavior is finally aligning itself to who we really are.  This behavior may seem artifical but it is the way our authenic self would behave if we were to quit hiding, and faced our fears straight out.  In the end, we really aren't faking anything at all.

The artifical self is the one tied to our ego.  It feels fear, hides it light, and lacks self-confidence. Start being and acting like who you are really meant to be.  Let your inner light shine.