Here it is, my first blog post! I got off the coach-training conference call tonight energized about the topic we dealt with: authenticity. Halloween is a really good time to think about this issue. When we put on masks, we experiment with a different identity; we get to have fun trying on what it would be like to be someone else. It's wonderful that the Halloween gives us that outlet! Wearing a mask on Halloween emphasizes the truth that on the other days of the year, we serve ourselves and others much better by not wearing masks. "Playing" the "role" of myself begins with a genuine understanding of my personal strengths. When I know who I am, then I can create my life, based on those strengths. Being genuinely me, the world puts up less resistance. Being genuinely me I'm going to better attract people who want what I have to offer. Conversely, if I make choices about my life that are in conflict with who I am, then the world puts up resistance. I know a former school teacher who passionately desired to teach children in the public schools. He believed in it. He had a great commitment to it. He just had one problem: he didn't have what it takes to be a teacher in the public schools. He didn't have organizational skills to pull it off. The world put up obstacles, one of which was his continual problems in handling classroom discipline. As he got to know himself better, and stopped judging himself for who he was not, he was able to find different work that fulfilled other passions that were better suited to him. Here is a funny example. Suppose there is a ad in the newspaper for a job which requires climbing a telephone pole. Who applies? A fish and a squirrel. Not much question who is going to be hired for that job! When we are our genuine, authentic, real selves, no masks, no counterfeit, then opportunities open up. Being authentic generates light; wearing masks creates confusion. Adjusting our choices to our inner beings is like the instruments of an orchestra playing in tune. Halloween is a fun time to play a different role, to wear a different mask. But during the rest of the year, I'll have the most fun living out the part made just for me, for my skin and bones. Photo credit: Halloween Masks byThomas Fitzgerald at Flickr / CC BY-NC 2.0