Being My Authentic Self

“Authenticity means erasing the gap between what you firmly believe inside and what you reveal to the outside world.” ~ Adam Grant

I admit it: I want to be like Bernie Sanders. Not a politician, but I just want to be, like I think he is, my authentic self all the time and not care what anyone thinks about me.

If you live in the U.S. you have most likely heard of Senator Bernie Sanders. He’s one politician who’s been around a long time fighting for the rights of ordinary people. I won’t list all his causes here. You can look up information about him for yourself. He’s one of those people you either really like or you don’t. But one thing is for sure, he’s always himself.

On Inauguration Day, he appeared in a parka and knitted mittens instead of fancy coat and gloves, and caused a media frenzy. He was there to witness and support the new President and Vice President. That was all. I think he expected to be in the background unnoticed. He certainly didn’t expect to become a meme. But he did. 

I saw an article on one of the news outlets later on Inauguration Day or the day after that quoted a Tweet Bernie had posted. It read something like this. “Fashion?! Let’s get to work.” That describes Bernie Sanders perfectly. He’s always got his eye on the work that needs to be done to help ordinary people, protect the environment and heal the wounds in our world. He rarely talks about himself.

I could go on and on about him, because I admire his drive to help ordinary people like me, but what I admire most about him is that he doesn’t appear to have an ego. He doesn’t grandstand, or brag about himself. When I listen to his interviews they are always about his plans to help people and address all the problems we humans face. I want to be like that. I want to help people in my own very small circle and not care what other people think of my life choices. I want to be my authentic self at all times, or at least as much of the time as I can be.

Maybe I am getting closer to my goal. Years ago, I was talking to someone who was a member of some group Barry and I belonged to at church, and I was saying that I wanted to peel away all the layers of my ego and just become my authentic self. The person I was talking to didn’t think that was possible. I disagreed. I felt that it was possible to not let my ego control my every waking moment. Now, all these years later, I feel like I’m getting closer to my goal and it feels so good.

That’s all I wanted to say today. Have a fantastic week. Stay safe and healthy.

Blessings to you all.

Lucinda Sage-Midgorden © 2021

Lucinda is the author of The Space Between Time, an award finalist in the “Fiction: Fantasy” category of the 2017 Best Book Awards.

Have you ever experienced life shattering events? Yeah, most of us have. In The Space Between Time, Jenna Holden gets slammed by her fiancé walking out, her mother’s untimely death, and losing her job all in one week. But she receives unexpected help when she finds her three-times great-grandmother’s journals and begins the adventure of a lifetime.

The Space Between Time is available in all ebook formats at Smashwords and for Kindle at Amazon, or you can find the ebook at iBooks or Barnes and Noble. If you prefer a physical copy, you can find a print-on-demand version at Amazon. Stay tuned for news when the audiobook version is published.

Lucinda is also the host of Story-Power a new podcast where she and her guests discuss the stories in all formats that have changed their lives. It’s available here on Sage Woman Chronicles and on Apple, Google, and Spotify podcast apps. Please rate and leave a review. It helps people find me.