The topic at hand was how can a person inform and educate people in manner that is engaging and authentic.
I paused. The first word to appear in my mind was intention. With leadership (or simply being human) comes the responsibility to act with integrity and - authenticity. Thank you Gary Zukov!
I used Gary Zukov’s message to guide our discussion.
I began with defining intention: Intention is one with cause and effect. It’s at the heart of authentic power because it is a quality of consciousness (energy) that you bring to a deed or words. In other words, it’s your reason or motivation behind anything you say or do.
Here’s what’s really important:
Even if you don’t have an intention, it will still cause an effect. Thought by thought, choice by choice, we are co-creating our lives based on the energy of our intention.
Choice of intention is a fundamental creative act. You are co-creating your life with the universe and how you participate is the choice of intention. So when you become an aware creator, you now become a more powerful creator because to use creative capacity (intention) in a loving way, you are choosing love instead of fear.
This design of cause and effect is to remind us of how powerful we are as human beings and how responsible we are for what we create. This is by no means suggesting that what happens to us is always our fault. This is to impress upon all of us, our reaction to what happens to us is our responsibility.
Here are the steps Gary Zukov provides in order to begin the process of creating authentic power when you feel emotionally challenged.
- Pause, go inside. In order to have emotional awareness, you need to create a gap between your emotional impulse (reaction) and the action you will take.
- In that gap (space), you inject consciousness or intention. You choose consciously and act from the most loving part of your personality that you can reach for in that moment.
The more you cultivate the loving parts of your personality, the more opportunity you have to fill your awareness with all that is joy and love.
This kind of authentic power is a process, not an event. It happens decision by decision. step by step, choice by choice…just like learning how to dance.
At the end of the meeting, I looked at myself in the mirror, something grabbed my attention and in that instant felt what happened inside. I was fixated on a flaw.
I realized there are many times I do not treat myself with love and compassion. I was reminded of that when I saw my reflection. How many times my inner voice was choosing to see what was wrong, or flawed.
In that instant, I focused on my hair.
I know this sounds superficial but my luscious curls feel like a big part of my personality. These curls enhance my sassy playful spirit. My hair is my signature and dare I admit, an attachment to my femininity.
This past year due to my intense travel schedule, I dealt with hairdressers from many different cities. With every visit, it seems as though my hair became shorter and my curls lost their bounce.
Watching this happen day-by-day, was effecting my sense of beauty and self-love. This when my internal work became more obvious.
I realized not only do I have to have a loving intention with others, but also with myself. Choosing to focus on what was wrong with my hair instead of what was right with me, is a choice I was inevitably making.
And so my work continues.
I’ve been making room for my essence. I show up with my heart more than before knowing that my “signature look" is no longer going to be my primary focus.
And I’ve become more awakened by authentic connection with people. My intent to show up with my essence has introduced me to other people’s essence. I’m learning to pay attention differently.
I’m continuously humbled by and reminded how authentic power is a process, not an event. It’s done decision by decision, step by step, choice by choice.
The point of any interaction, even within my selfie, is to contribute what you can be. This is the nature of love.
Soulfully yours,
Patty
PS: Follow me on Instagram as I, a Soulful Gypsy, travel around the country.
