Are you a hypocrite for being authentic?

We are to be free to be the person God created us to be.  Just recently I had a conversation with friends and we were discussing the meaning of authenticity.  One person commented how some people are very different in their private life compared to their public life.  For example if a person has anger issues and yells at the children, yet in the public they pretendto be a sweet little person, they are not being true to themselves.  Being authentic means we don’t have secrets to hide.  Perhaps we need to deal with the anger so that we are genuine in our “sweetness”.  If we are trying to deceive others, we will be deceived ourselves.

Integrity means being whole, entire, or undiminished in moral and ethical principles.  It involves being honest and truthful in sound character and not living a double standard.  By telling others to “Do as I say, and not as I do” are we being a hypocrite?  A hypocrite is a fraud and a phony.  Most people find this behaviour repulsive, especially the ones who see us behind closed doors.

If I am a disrespectful and selfish liar, perhaps I’d be better off to act like a jerk all the time.  If so, then at least I would be an authentic jerk!  Those who know the “true me”, are probably tired of the act and wish others knew the truth about who I really am.

During my childhood being the youngest of six children made it difficult for me to make my own decisions and choose for myself what was truly authentic.  I was like a chameleon, changing with the environment.  It took me many years to discover who I wanted to be and to be consistent in being the real me, all the time.  Even as an adult I struggled in learning to be genuine and transparent.

Being authentic involves deciding who you want to be and then being that person all the time.  We allow everything in our lives to be a true reflection of who we really are.  Being authentic brings harmony and true contentment.  There are no secrets to hide and those closest to you enjoy the consistency of you being your true self all the time.  If you despise hypocrites, be a good role model by being the real you, all the time.