I am SO HAPPY that I teach yoga! It just struck me – again – this morning while I was teaching how much I really really love what I do. And I am so grateful that I am in a situation where I can do it. For so long I worked in a career that I really didn’t love. I felt trapped and dreamed of doing something else but WHAT? That was always the question.
Do you know what I mean?
- You just KNOW you cannot continue to work in a job that isn’t truly you.
- But you’re not sure what “truly you” means.
For me, the situation was that I had a corporate job that fit in with what I thought was expected of me. It paid me really well and gave me the status that I thought I was supposed to have. All of my friends were from that world – we would talk about work outside of work and we had our own little corporate-speak way of communicating with each other. I lived in a big house and ate out 4-5 times a week in really nice restaurants. I shopped at expensive stores and outsourced boring tasks such as housecleaning, laundry, and washing the car.
On paper, I would think to myself, my life is fantastic. But why then did I feel bad?
I know now – I felt bad because I wasn’t living authentically.
I wasn’t living the life that I really wanted to live, that I am meant to live.
I wasn’t being the person I truly am.
The question then became: what kind of life do I want? And of course, who am I really?
au-then-tic-i-ty: the truthfulness of origins, attributions, commitments, sincerity, devotion, and intentions.
My path of self-discovery began with my yoga practice. What was at first just a physical activity (maybe YOGA will help me lose 10 pounds!) evolved into a journey of learning about my Self. I learned to quiet my mind, to look inward rather than outward for the answers to these questions.
Eating whole natural foods was and is an essential key. Who I am and what I want becomes clear when I am eating well and able to think clearly. It’s next to impossible to find your authentic self when you are constantly in a haze of sugar, caffeine, chemicals, meat, and dairy.
And best of all, the unfolding of ME is continuous as I am constantly transforming 
PS there’s a beautiful almost-full moon out tonight. I hope you can see it too.
Related posts:
- Meme Blog Award! Thank you Kate for this blog award! Here are the...
- 7 Reasons to Read The Amazing Adventures of Diet Girl I just finished reading a book called The Amazing Adventures...
- Random Thoughts on Food, Yoga, Running I’m about to go for a run. It’s dreary out...
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
What an awesome post… Thank you so much for describing the joy of living an authentic life. I’ve never had a corporate job, but I’ve definitely been in situations that were not true to who I was.
Sometimes years would go by like that…
At age 40, I’m happier than I ever was. I still have issues I need to work on… and to date I haven’t found the career or job that’s “the one.”
I’m not sure I ever will… but I’ve come to some peace around that.
I think my only real pull has been to know God (at one point entering a nunnery definitely crossed my mind!). Where this will take me, I don’t know… but that’s ok too.
To hear someone enjoying their path through life is fantastic. I’m so glad I found your blog!
There is nothing better than living authentically in all areas of your life. I, too, used to do the corporate thing and was miserable. Then I took a job managing a small business and I loved it – for almost eight years. But then, something started nagging at me, again, not quite to the same extent as it did during my corporate incarnation, but I still wasn’t entirely happy. I realized I still wasn’t done being authentic. Now I run my own business and I’m doing what I love – and life has expanded in ways I never thought possible.
I’m intrigued by your comment that eating whole, natural foods are essential to this way of living. I’m pretty good at eating “healthy,” but won’t deny myself the occasional (okay, daily….) indulgence of some “vices” such as Ben and Jerry’s, or diet soda (yes, I know – working on that one….). I can’t help but wonder what might happen if I truly eliminated all of those foods/drinks – would it speed up my expansion even more? It might. But then again, indulging myself in these things is part of what feels authentic to me, so maybe that’s why it works for me?