From Self-Discovery to Commitment: Unveiling My Truth and Vowing to Live Authentically

Uncovering my truth, and living as my authentic self, has been years of introspective and hard work. It’s been a homecoming, a returning to myself. It’s also been an exploration of new discoveries, growth, and changes that have helped me feel more empowered. As I’ve been figuring out who I really am, and not who everyone has told me I am or need to be, what I’ve found is that sometimes it can be hard to hold onto my truths.

It’s as if I’ve been this small sapling freshly planted. But without proper nurturing and protection, my roots feel unstable. I’ve been vulnerable to the outside world and at risk of this new version of me dying or being blown about by strong gusts of wind or influence. I’ve recently been reflecting on how I can protect this new version of me until it becomes stronger and more rooted – to be able to stand firm in myself even when the outside world grows loud in its opinions, disagreement, or disapproval. This led me to write down commitments to myself and this process.

These commitments are ones I aspire to, and I will never be perfect at them. I see them as my inner compass and north star. This helps me to stay focused on listening to my intuition and guiding myself through life instead of seeking approval or living the way others or society tell me I should live. These commitments also help give me the courage and motivation to keep going when I question myself or am met with unintentional or intentional harm from others. My goal is to stay on the path I’m meant to be on and not let others knock me off course.

If you are on your own path to discovering and living your truth, consider if any of these commitments below resonate with you. I encourage you to reflect on what your own commitments would be to yourself and the world as you walk this journey towards self-discovery and authenticity.

My commitments:

I will surround myself with others who allow me to be fully seen, speak my truth, and provide the safety I need to grow into who I’ve always been and who I am becoming. They will help shelter me from the storm of society and others who will not see me, will not want to hear me speak my truth or try to silence me, or will want to try to do harm to me for living as my authentic self.

I will set boundaries with others so that I can protect myself and my truth.

I will no longer abandon myself and my needs to keep the peace, keep the status quo, or to make others more comfortable in their privilege and their harms. I will speak my needs and voice injustices.

I will not hide myself, and when it feels like the choice is between living my truth out loud and being comfortable or safe, I will consciously decide what is best in each moment and not let fear automatically win out. I will acknowledge when my privilege allows me to live parts of my truth without fear of my safety, and challenge systems that do not allow for safety of others or myself to live our truths.

I will be honest with others even when it’s hard. My story of my relationship with someone and the story I share with them about our relationship will match to the best of my ability. However, I will not chase discrepancies if someone is unwilling or unable to hear me out or does not provide safety to share the full and more accurate story of the relationship and my experiences in it.

I will let go of situations and people where it is unsafe to share my story, or they have shown they are not deserving of my full story.

I will not take away other people’s truths but will challenge others, or systems that exist, when their actions from their truths are harming me or others. I will do this without creating unnecessary harm.

I will stay in my integrity and live according to my values – and let these guide me. I will notice when my actions do not align with my values, and I will work to make amends and realign my actions to my values. I will also pay attention when a value that has been placed upon me doesn’t fit and will work to find a replacement that fits better.

I will own my truth even if it’s invalidated by other people, their truths, and their narratives or beliefs. This also means that I don’t have to prove my truth to others to mean that it is valid – I don’t have to force or chase after people to see me. My truth and who I am is my own and no one can take that away from me. I will educate those who are willing to listen and share my story with those who are willing to create space to hear it.

I will check in with my intuition for guidance first and last. And if I seek the opinions of others, I will decide how that influences me. I will work to not believe that someone else knows what is best for me over myself. If there is a difference between others’ opinions and my own, I will sit with this, take in feedback, sort through what needs to stay and what needs to go, and then take a moment to feel into what is the next best step. I will make amends and changes if needed, but I will not rush or be impulsive in my decisions to the detriment of myself or others.

I will be willing to try new things, step outside my comfort zone, challenge old beliefs and patterns, and be open to new ideas and ways of being so that I can become the best and most honest version of myself. I will do this without betraying or abandoning myself.

I will continue the work of better understanding myself so that my truth becomes clearer and less of a mystery over time. And that this allows me to grow my roots so that I may stay grounded in place whenever storms come and attempt to uproot me.

If you want help, guidance, or support in discovering your truths and authentic self, reach out to me. We can even explore what commitments you’d like to write down for yourself so you can stay rooted in your truth while you grow.