The real, authentic you

Everyone wants to be loved and accepted. The real authentic you has a deep seated, powerful desire for affection.So the world should be filled with love and acceptance right? Well, look around. Is it?

No, of course it isn't. Because although we all want love and acceptance we, on the average, do not give it. Instead, we hide behind our facade of toughness and invulnerability and throw hate grenades at other people, hopefully tearing them down before they get to tear us down. We generate lies about who we are and what we want so that others can't hurt us. While it seems like a good idea in theory, the armor is never thick enough, the walls are never high enough and we still get hurt. And even worse, this way can never ever lead to being loved and accepted.

To solve this problem we need to change gears. Now, for a real thought provoking question. How are babies and domestic canines alike?

They each are completely filled with the desire to be loved. There isn't a single ounce of falseness within them.They pour out who and what they are in every moment. Unconditional love oozes from every fiber of their being, from them into us. And we can't help but love them right back.

Sheer ecstasy at being around someone that they love is their sole motivation for every action they take. Their happiness is infectious. We catch it even if we think we don't want to. When a baby smiles at us we know they aren't trying to trick us into anything. They aren't luring us in so that they can hurt us. They are simply sharing joy.

It has been said that it is better to give than to receive. Well, in terms of love and acceptance, the saying should be if you wish to receive you must first give. See, we show the world, by our way of being, how we want the world to treat us.

When we put up a false front, lie about who we are and what we want, we tell the world that is how we want others to act around us. When we put on armor and pick up weapons we tell others we want them to attack us.

When we cloth ourselves in love and acceptance we show others that we want to be loved and accepted, but more importantly we show them that we are willing to give them what they truly want. And when you are willing to give others what they truly want they are much more willing to do the same for you.

Contrary to what you might think, when it comes to emotional energy, negative plus positive eventually leads to the destruction of negative, leaving behind the same amount or even more positive than you started with. Negative plus negative only leads to a larger amount of negative. And positive plus positive, of course, leads to more positive.

By being who you are, you free others to be who they are. When they realize that they can safely let their guard down around you, then there are two people who can be themselves. And gradually more and more people will be drawn to you as a result. You can't force the world to change. But you can encourage it.

So stop lying about who you are and what you want. Let out the inner child. Be authentic. Be real. Be you.