Be Genuine, not a Genie

Lately I've been doing a lot of work around getting over the Be Everything to Everyone syndrome. That doesn't work. Life will and does show all of us that we cannot give people what they want every time they want it. Before you can be there for someone else, you have to show up in your own life first.

I watch successful and happy people at work and in social situations and in my playtime. One thing becomes clear: the ones who do well are the ones who:
1. Say what they mean.
2. Do what they say they will do.
3. Don't really give a shit what other people say about them.
4. Don't talk smack about other people, but are selective on who affects them.

I try to be genuine in my day and in what I am doing. When I am motivated by love, I am productive and happy. When I am motivated by fear or guilt, I become scattered, unfocused, and often angry. The primary difference between these two states is how I step into the situation (whatever it is).

There comes a time in everyone's life when a person can choose to turn off the spigot of demands and focus on a few good things, or attempt to please everyone and go crazy and fail every single time because it is literally an impossible task for anyone. People are everywhere, demands are everywhere, needs are everywhere. Especially in today's age these demands appear even bigger because of all the constant newsfeeds, alerts, texts, emails. At least in the pre-computer age, demands were relegated only to voice, face-to-face, and paper.  There are now so many instantaneous ways to distractions and alarms.

I wave my white flag up at all the demands around me. I give up trying to get to them all- it is a perpetual losing game like Sisyphus rolling that damn boulder up the mountain just to do it again tomorrow.  Instead, today I'm turning off the email and the IM and the constant stream of demands and focusing only on what I need to get done today. And when I choose to do something, it will have my full attention. I want to be genuine. I want to engage in meaningful tasks. I am not satisfied by scraping my way through surface interactions in an effort to appease or placate.

So.....to the world of appearances, I say screw you. I'm a content girl and I'm staying that way. I'm doing today what needs to get done, not what is convenient to you or needs a pretty dress on it to make you feel better about yourself.  I'm going to be real. And I'm going to live my life the way my soul directs it. Not by your demands or expectations (be they real or perceived). I'm done with being a conduit for your agenda. I'm going by my internal compass. I know that thing is aligned to a bigger picture that makes sense.

I urge you all to be genuine and if something feels off, check your motivation behind your words and actions. If they are based in anything other than love, reassess.