Since this post is about being authentic I feel I should be upfront and let you know I am in no way a history buff. I do, however, have wonderful listening skills (my history lovin husband knows his history stuff) and I know how to use the search engine on Google better than most lazy people I know sooooo I’m qualified to tell you this example that’s stuck with me about being real and authentic. 
See that tanker up there? It’s called a dummy tank and it was a decoy of sorts. They were inflatable and in World War I and II these decoy rubber tanks were used to confuse or throw off enemy camps. From a distance they appeared very real but once you got up close you could tell the difference. It was somewhat effective but it wasn’t real. I remember my husband, David and myself talking about these decoys a few years back when we were discussing how from a distance sometimes things look so together and like it’s running perfectly but if you get up close there is no depth, it’s hollow inside and it’s not something we wanted to be involved with because it’s not real.
I do so love authenticity. It’s attractive. It’s valuable. It’s uncommon and rare these days. Why do we feel the need to be someone or something we are not? I believe it’s because of a few things:
1. We don’t like who we are- Somewhere along our journey people, even well-intending good people, speak things over us about who we are and more times than not, those voices scream louder than our true selves. It’s funny how those voices and words resonate in our deepest soul and along the line one day we start to be those things and another day later in life we don’t like who we’ve turned into.
As an example- I’ve always been called a people-pleaser. Family, friends, boyfriends, co-workers, bosses…maybe I am, right? If I wasn’t before I surely was now. Many of the people who spoke this over me had good intentions. I think a more powerful and positive way this could have been branded on my heart would have been to say that I like everyone in a situation to be happy and pleased if that’s possible (even me). But “people-pleaser” announced as a large part of my personality said to everyone, “walk all over Brooke she won’t care! If you’re happy then she’s happy. She won’t ever express an opinion so do what you want and don’t even consider her. She’s a people-pleaser!” I wore that title like a badge for over 20 years and I’ve had to establish that I’m no longer a push over and that I do have an opinion. It was different for those who branded me as a people pleaser to understand and respect that the real Brooke did have opinions and would and could make choices that didn’t put all others before herself. I read a life-changing book that helped me in this journey called Boundaries by Henry Cloud and John Townsend. Read it because it will change your life. I prefer to be known as a peace maker now which is more me than people pleaser but comes from the same place in my heart.
2. We are afraid of rejection- You know, what if the true me, the authentic me, isn’t something people will accept or like? I dealt with this after transforming into a person who now has an opinion. You could imagine changing from a people pleaser into someone with a voice and opinion would be difficult. We are talking my parents & others who had known me my entire life were now experiencing a new person and my friends were learning of a new and more two sided relationship. As you can imagine, some people liked it and some did not. After 20 plus years of people pleasing it was hard for me to see people I loved (and I thought loved me back) not accept and reject the Brooke who had a voice. It was a journey for me because I still had tendencies of wanting to give in and give up on having an opinion and setting boundaries with people. I don’t know what you might be afraid of revealing that could cause people to reject you but if it’s healthy and godly then it’s worth it. Better and more wonderful people will come along! Lean into the true you and if anyone rejects it they aren’t a necessary part of your day to day life anyways.
3. We don’t know who we are or who we belong too- see this is your identity. Have you noticed you get kinda flustered when someone asks you to introduce yourself? I do. Not because I’m afraid to talk or because I’m nervous, it’s more due to the fact that we’ve complicated who we are… Daughter, wife, mommy, friend, business owner and the list goes on and on. You see, we as a society have decided labeling and a long line of accolades is equivalent to our identities. We’ve made things so complicated! How about these terms? Addict, loser, nobody etc. Once again, what’s up with the labels?
I can break this down for you. If you don’t know Jesus yet you should get to know Him becaue a life surrenderd to Him makes this whole identity thing simple. In 2 Corinthians 5:17-20, Paul is writing to the people saying- “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us.”
Do you see it? Your identity is in Christ. We are new. We were made to be reconciled to God and then to be his ambassadors. No long list of labels…PTO president, Girl Scout troop leader, baseball coach- nope, you’re an ambassador of Christ. Your most important label may be the only Jesus others will ever see. Walk in that identity. Walk out your journey with Jesus and allow Him to be what defines you.
Stop the decoy mentality. Cut the labels and be like Jesus. Authentic. Try it the next time someone asks you to tell them more about yourself. Leave the long list of your labels that you think you are for later and introduce them to your identity in Christ.
Happy Weekend!
Brooke
Price Family Blog 