So has anybody finished Camille's book yet? I am about half way through. So far, I have agreed with most of the author's ideas. Randi posted about courage and having courage to be vulnerable and honest about who we are. The author...can't think of her name right now and too lazy to find it...says that living with the courage to be who we really are is living an "authentic" life. As I read the section about authenticity, it made sense, don't do things just to fit in, be who you really are, etc. However, I am curious about where you draw the line. I don't believe that life is about just sitting back and being "who we are". I think we have to try to become something more; to grow and progress.
For example, if I were honestly to be who I am naturally, I would always have a dirty house and spend my evenings being lazy. I don't like to clean and after work I don't feel like doing anything. However, I don't want to be known as a lazy person or have a nasty house, so I try to force myself to clean and to be productive, even though most of the time I don't want to. So does that make me unauthentic? I'm sure the author would agree that setting goals and trying to improve ourselves is a positive thing, but don't we have to set goals because our natural selves aren't accomplishing that specific thing? If it were something we did or loved to do naturally, it would already be getting done! Right?
So what do you guys think? Are there certain goals that we shouldn't try to achieve because it is just so far from who we really are? What do you think about this concept of "authenticity"? and how does it still leave room for trying become better people?
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Ok, I've thought about it, and this is what I say: being authentic isn't just accepting who you are and using that as an excuse to be complacent. To me, it seems like being authentic means being honest with yourself. Being honest about your strengths AND your weaknesses. It's about having the COURAGE to honestly and authentically decide what you need to improve about yourself. I see what Cami means. I am the same way. If I was really being "me" I would be super lazy as well. I would also eat blueberry pie for every meal. That sounds good. But being authentic, or "real" makes me realize there are things about myself that need to be changed or bettered and so I do try to do those things. I'm glad Camille chose this book, though. It was EXACTLY what I needed to read right now. Especially the parts about being compassionate to yourself. It's important.
Cam, I had to laugh out loud when I read this because it is so true. I think most of us would be kind of lazy if we were being honest about things. I don't think that makes us any less authentic. One of my favorite talks ever is by Elder Oaks, "The Challenge to Become." It's fantastic and it goes right along with this idea. The gospel of Jesus Christ challenges us to actually become something. We have to act on things and grow. So I think we kind of have a different perspective on things. We are constantly working on progressing and bettering ourselves, but that is why we are here.
So I was thinking back to scripture mastery days in Ether where we learned about weaknesses becoming strengths. We all came with some of those weaknesses, but we are challenged to overcome them and become something better. I could go on forever about this because I too have been thinking about this lately and especially with this book. I think it's important to remember that we do have weaknesses, but I love that the gospel gives me a perspective and a challenge to become something better, while still being true to who I am.
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