A state of mindfulness: My most authentic self

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There’s nothing quite like first light in the morning. The earth is calm. The birds are chirping. The air is crisp. It’s a new day, a fresh start, a rebirth. As I take a deep breath acknowledging all the possibilities the new day brings, I realise with total awe how grateful I am for so many things and how at peace I am with my most authentic self. The relationship you build with yourself is the most important relationship you could possibly work on. While it’s only human to go through cycles of working on improving yourself, it’s also always worth taking a moment to check in with yourself and evaluate your progress. Here’s a look at me, today, at my most authentic self.

My strength knows no limits

I lost my mom in the most horrific of ways when I was 11 years old and my sister was only 6. It shook our family to the core. Something like that can truly make or break your psyche. Luckily, we have the most unbelievable father who made every single sacrafice to care for his little girls. We also had the most unbelievable grandmother who nurtured us as if we were her own children. She has since passed too and having the two mother figures in my life leave the physical world was truly devastating. Along side grief, I’ve also experienced another massive hurdle in my life: surviving a stroke. In all these occassions, I’ve needed to draw strength from deep within my being and focus my mind to conquer another day and put one foot in front of the other and keep going. Having done this more than once, I’m fully aware of my limits as well as my capabilities. Maya Angelo was quoted as saying “I come as one, but I stand as ten thousand” and I think of this often. I have the understanding of the weight of these words because I have experienced the strength of their impact. I know that I can conquer whatever challenge I’m faced with.

I listen to the whispers

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you will know that I love to read. The scope of genres I read is far and wide (read my latest book review here), and often includes motivational book because I love to feel inspired. In Oprah’s “The Path Made Clear”, she speaks about the “whispers” in a way that so aptly describes the moment your intuition tells you something needs to change. Whether that is a relationship, a career decision, a personal life change or any other situation in which your gut tells you to move, you need to do just that. That self-awareness is something I use to dictate a lot of my decisions and I really use the whispers to navigate through life. It wasn’t always like this – it’s something that’s come with a little life experience, however, I now know to trust it because when I do, incredible things happen.

I have so much respect for our planet

Mother nature is extraordinary. I was mesmerised by our primary school biology project in which we grew a runner bean on a saucer between two sheets of damp cotton wool. As each day came and went, I couldn’t believe how this little bean thrived from the way I was nuturing it. Now, I love to watch my garden grow. I love the change of seasons and the way nature takes its course, each season as equally beautiful as the next. I’ve always been such a huge animal lover. If there is an animal of any kind within my path, I always stop to talk to it. They make me so happy. At the same point in time, my heart bleeds as human kind destroy so much of the earth, pollute the oceans and force feed animals for slaughter. I strive, each and every day, to do my part to protect the planet in whatever way I can. I am so dedicated to recycling. I refuse single-use plastic. I eat a plant based diet and I’m constantly looking for ways of improving my global footprint. There is magic in nature and protecting it is something I am so passionate about and always have been.

Surrounding myself with people who add value

I have always had a great many friends. As time goes on, though, I am much more precious with my time and I chose to only fill it with people that add value to it. I want to be around people who cheer for me and make my heart want to explode with love and not around people who draw from my happiness and pull me down. This is not to say that I’m not there for my friends during tough times, because I am. What I mean by this is that I refuse to surround myself with gossips (my pet peeve), negative Nancys and anyone that is disingenuinous. We have so much good to focus on and that’s exactly where I like to channel my frequency and in so doing, I like to surround myself with quality friends that add value to my life. I’ve found this to be so important.

I am so much more than someone who posts pictures on the internet. I am a fiancé, a sister, lawyer, a global citizen, a friend, a music lover, a cat lady and more than anything, I’m my most authentic self. I know my strengths. I know my weaknesses. I know what I need to improve on and what victories are worth celebrating. I’m living a beautiful life with so much to be thankful for.

To end this blog post, I would love to know what about your most authentic self do you love the most?