“Be a bush if you can’t be a tree. If you can’t be a highway, just be a trail. If you can’t be a sun, be a star. For it isn’t by size that you win or fail. Be the best of whatever you are.” 

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Today I am building on the post from yesterday and writing about the 2nd of my 3 words for 2020 is “Authenticity.“ I love this quote for a lot of reasons but very specifically for the last line. “Be the best of whatever you are.” This is definitely “authenticity!”

The dictionary.com definition of “authenticity” that best aligns with how I am using this word in 2020 is, “representing one’s true nature or beliefs; true to oneself or to the person identified.”

Rev. Martin Luther King certainly embodied this principle in his life and because of this he embraced God’s unique and special gifts and talents and used those to change the world. We all owe him an eternal debt for his willingness to embrace his true and authentic self, which ultimately cost him his life.

Now I am not saying that I want to change the world in the manner of Rev. King nor am I comparing myself to him in any way. However, I do want to emulate his example and fully embrace the gifts that God has blessed me with and live outwardly in a manner that is true to myself and what I believe and hold true as a core principles.

Certainly we all want to live in this way so why is this a focus word for me in 2020? I have found in life that without dedicated attention and focus to truly being the person that you discern yourself to be, then it is way too easy to get pulled away from your true self and caught in a vortex of living an inauthentic life that just won’t let you go.

Settling for a life like this is choosing to settle. It is choosing to be less than the person that God created you to be. It is choosing to live a life of less, not more. It is choosing to set yourself up for a life of regret and second-guessing. I can’t think of a less authentic way to live…