Authenticity comes from the Latin word “Author” and simply means to become the author of one’s life. Being authentic means coming from a real place within, where our actions and words are congruent with our beliefs and values.

Authenticity is not a destination but a journey of deep self-discovery. It requires self-knowledge and self-awareness. Living authentically is not stagnant. It is constantly shifting and taking on new forms and we must continually be learning about ourselves, challenging old beliefs, facing our fears, and courageously reaching deep within ourselves to find out what makes our heart sing and our spirit soar.

“An emotion is a complex psychological state that involves three distinct components: a subjective experience, a physiological response, and a behavioural or expressive response.” (Hockenbury & Hockenbury, 2007)

5 Ways to Practice Mindfulness

I’ve been trying to cut out sugar in all its forms from my diet, especially when it comes in the form of a Yorkie chocolate bar, cheesecake or any type of cupcake. Try as I might, I find myself succumbing to my sweet tooth. I can restrain myself till the weekend, and then what starts off as a little indulgence ends up in a gluttonous splurge on anything resembling sugar.

I walked into my favourite restaurant and was pleasantly surprised to see that our table was reserved for only four, rather than the eight that were supposed to meet up. The other four had cancelled for different reasons and the three that remained happened to be the ones I was most comfortable with.

Right now you may be asking yourself, why am I reading this article? Will it help me in a way that none of the other million articles out there didn’t? But it’s true – I do hear this voice in my head. Let me just read a bit more and see what this is about.

There are so many memories that are stored in my unconscious under the folder “regret” —The girl who approached me to ask me out in high school and I told her I had other plans. Why I chose to leave the exciting challenge of working in London to come back to my comfort-zone in Ghana. The time I watched myself on video screaming at my 3-year old son for coming out of the wrong side of the car.

7 Questions That Help Us Delve Deep Into Knowing Thyself

Our physiology affects our state of mind much more than we like to acknowledge. We need to understand the difference between a state of mind, a feeling that is temporary and general well-being, which is an overall state of affairs and is permanent.

Happiness is a fleeting feeling, which makes us feel elated for minutes, hours or even days—watching your football team win a game in the last few minutes, enjoying a night out with friends or feeling good after a great yoga session—but won’t last for the rest of your life.

7 ways to create lasting habits in our lives

Whisper it slowly. I’ll turn 48 this week. It’s true I’m not young anymore but would I want to go back in time? Probably, but only if I can take with me all my experiences and the lessons I’ve learned from life.

There are times, I look in the mirror and see the kid that was determined to conquer the world and other times, especially after a long taxing run when my knees ache badly, or after a rough day at work, I feel every single day of my 17,520 days I’ve lived on this planet.

I find myself in front of the Jardin du Luxembourg. The gardens are spread over many acres. All kinds of flowers bloom in different colors, offering differing scents that urge creativity whenever you breathe. I look around and see people laughing, children playing and lovers kissing. Most of all I see and feel life, and it’s everywhere. No one seems to care that I can’t write.

5 Ways to Overcome Overwhelm

However after listening to Patrick Awuah, the founder and president of Ashesi University on how he came to live his purpose, I paused and pondered about this new perspective on purpose. There was now a clarity that I lacked before.

This is when we zero in on the present thing that we are doing, such as watching a sunset, playing with our children or writing poetry where we lose ourselves completely and every minute becomes joyful and soul nourishing. Time just stops and nothing else matters. There is a stillness and a certain form of inner peace engulfs us. We stop talking to the outside world and more importantly we stop listening to our incessant inner voice.

José Mourinho boasts an impressive pedigree during his years as a manager, winning nearly every major European title from the Champions League to Series A to the UEFA Cup, 22 titles in total. He is regarded by a number of players, coaches, and commentators as one of the greatest and most successful managers in the world. He is very charismatic, pragmatic and always carries with him a certain wow factor.

Authenticity is a collection of choices that we have to make every day. It’s about the choice to show up and be real. The choice to be honest. The choice to let our true selves be seen.- Brené Brown

The end-goal will always be freedom. Freedom to live the way our hearts desire. Freedom to discover who we must become. Freedom to ask why we came into being. Freedom to change our lives and start again, if we are not satisfied.

We tend to lose track of our freedom and get distracted by our fears, circumstances, and the society. We allow the noise around us to drown the whispers that speak of our inner hidden truths.

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