JUst repy to each post in a caring way
POST ONE:
After analyzing my personality, I realized that I am most authentic when I am congruent with my consciously chosen beliefs, attitudes and values. The “key” word in this explanation is “consciously”. It is a very essential skill to stay honest with yourself and with your spirit despite any pressure coming out of the surrounding world, which pushes us to act against our beliefs and values. Controlling the mind and choosing what is correct for yourself are parts of authenticity.
I agree with Kaufman, who noted in his article that “People judge their positive behaviors as more authentic than their negative behaviors even when both behaviors are consistent with their personal characteristics and desires.” Unfortunately, it is the truth of life. People are creatures who always are willing to look better in the eyes of others and show only positive sides. However, that is impossible, as we all are making mistakes throughout life, which is natural. Only one who has the courage to accept their negative features and traits too and to express their emotions freely can be called truly authentic.
POST TWO:I believe I am most authentic when I am being congruent with various situations and social roles in my life. I feel that when I interact with others with little thought to how I should act, I am being true to myself. I shouldn’t have to think about how I should be, I should just be who I am in any situation. Along with that, being true to my values and beliefs in situations and social roles are important to me, and I rarely find myself trying to be something I am not or trying to hide the true way that I feel. The article explains that most people find themselves feeling most true to themselves when in social roles because of the acceptance they feel from others. However, I find that feeling content with myself and hoe I portray myself in social, roles without worrying about others acceptance, is how I feel most myself. I feel more at ease and relaxed when I just embrace who I am and feel confident with my beliefs, and trying to come up with a cover story because that causes so much unnecessary stress in my life.
POST THREE:
found Kaufman’s article, “Authenticity Under Fire” to be very insightful and illuminating, and it certainly prompted me to think about the concept of authenticity in ways that I have not in the past. In thinking about the question of “When do you believe you are your most authentic?,” I experienced a fair amount of internal conflict, confusion, and debate. While I would like to say that I am most authentic when I am congruent with my consciously chosen beliefs, attitudes, and values, I am not positive that this is absolutely true. When I honestly reflect on myself, my behaviors, and how I interact with the world, I think that the honest answer would have to be that I am my most authentic self when I am being congruent with my physiological states, emotions, and beliefs. In reflecting on how I interact with the world and the people around me, I cannot deny that my most authentic and genuine conveyances occur instinctively rather than deliberately. Although internally, I value justice, integrity, righteousness, and morality – possibly even above anything else, I recognize that to uphold and maintain these attributes constantly takes much more cognitive work and intention than do instinctual responses to common stimuli. My affective forecasting, impact bias, and durability bias have all played a large role in impacting my behavior and authenticity. Given this, I must say that I am my most authentic self in the times when I am acting without thinking much about it. In the physiological sense, if I am tired, in pain, hungry, etc., I generally have no desire to socially interact with anyone unless absolutely necessary, and am much more likely to have a somewhat negative demeanor, even if I try to mask it. I will be lazy, and I will treat myself poorly. Sometimes I will act entirely selfish towards others because my physical feelings can absolutely override my core values at times. Conversely, if I am feeling mentally and physically fit, or just have most or all of my physiological needs met, then I will interact with others (and myself!) in a way that feels positive and that much more aligns with my values as a whole: I will be generous with my time, money, and thoughts; I will recognize what other people need in any given moment and do my best to help them attain it; I will gladly make sacrifices for others, not only because it will benefit our relationship (sometimes this pertains to people I don’t even know – e.g., homeless people), but often just because I’m in a position to help and I want to. There are many parallels with my emotions and my physiological state, so I don’t feel the need to reiterate too much on that. However, in a positive emotional state I am far more likely to make greater efforts to uplift people around me who may not be feeling the same, and I am also far more likely to do positive things for myself. When it comes to my beliefs, relating to my most authentic self, I feel that Kaufman summed up a large element of my personality when he states, “or that time you didn’t tell the waiter how you really felt about his or her dismal performance because you value kindness and were true to your higher values?” So, to be real here, I try my best to be good and do good, but I falter at times when things just might not be going so well, or maybe it was just a long and exhausting day at work. Overall, I don’t think that authenticity necessarily has anything to do with “good” or bad,” it just has to do with who we honestly are, who we honestly want to be, and how we behave and interact in the world on a daily basis.
