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My time as Jennie’s guest blogger is coming to an end, so some closing thoughts. It seems odd, looking back on it, but Jennie and I never talked about what I would write. I was not sure what I wanted to talk about when I signed up for a turn as guest blogger. Then, when I sat down to write, what came to mind were the many nuggets of wisdom that I now call on to help guide me. Some of these nuggets turned into my posts. 
It seems to me there is a theme to this transformational work that keeps repeating itself. That theme is one of paying attention, noting the ways we are operating and then making affirmative choices about either continuing those ways or changing them. The overarching advice, as I have understood it: observation and conscious decision-making. This is the path to authenticity, to a life filled with the essences we seek, peace in our hearts, the joy and ease that make life satisfying. 
Coming to understand and trust my inner guidance system has been a key part of my work with Jennie. Learning to listen to and follow it requires breaking longstanding habits. But true to the old adage, it does get easier with practice, and the positive results keep me motivated. 
It’s frustrating at times, learning to accept and live with my authentic nature. I have acquired some pretty strong ideas about how I should and want to be, which don’t necessarily match with who I really am. 
I thought it might be useful to share a small vignette of the process I sometimes go through when there is a decision to be made that matters to me. The decision I have been currently wrestling with is whether to continue taking courses at the local community college. Classes begin this coming week. I need to decide! 
I’m sitting here in the Wi-Fi hut at ‘my’ lake resort, situated at the edge of the Boundary Waters of Northern Minnesota. This is our tenth visit to this charmingly rustic resort, nestled on the shore of a beautiful lake. While I’m now a Californian I grew up not far from here, and when my friend invited my family to come along to this place, a place she has been coming since she was a young girl, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity. 
ConditioningI have learned through this work is that living authentically lands us on the path to a full and vital life. It’s not a ‘happy pill’, but by living authentically we get to experience the ease that comes from being in power. When we are in power what we bring to a given situation is generally positive and productive. When we are out of power what we bring is usually unhelpful and often destructive. 
I am fortunate in so many ways. Sharing that good fortune with others is a high value for me. I want to be a force for good in the world. However, making the transformation to my authentic self has required me to reconsider my old ideas about service to others and to move into a healthier relationship with it. 
It is difficult to write about certain aspects of my work with Jennie. While it has been the best thing I’ve done for my personal growth, the process has been challenging and painful in many ways. It has required that I ‘walk through the fire’ to get to the other side, to a life 
What does it feel like to live an authentic life? I’m just learning, but I can tell you the more I move toward it the better my life feels, and the healthier I am in the world – with my family, my friends and the world at large. I can also tell you about what it looked like to live an inauthentic life. That’s what I’d been doing for most of my life, right up here into middle age. |
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