Dirt Simple Authenticity

Do you want to be easily authentic in your life?

I want you to effortlessly be able to be authentic about who you really are and what you want —unambiguously and without apology or difficulty.

And that kind of easy authenticity comes automatically when you have a healthy awareness of your own mortality.

Put another way — easy authenticity comes from facing the inevitability of your death.

Here’s what Steve Jobs said about death:

“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life.

Almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.

Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.”

Paradoxically, the healthy awareness of your death brings out your authenticity and brings you ease.

It makes it EASY to live as who you truly are. ‘Cause there’s no reason not to.

A strong, Kingly life with the immediacy and with the clarity that an empowering knowledge of your death gives you.

I remember hearing a story about how George Washington kept his coffin under his bed and would lie in it to remind himself of his mortality. I have no idea if this is true or not, but I think the story has hung around because it’s the sort of thing that would be true of a kingly man like him. 

It makes sense a man like Washington would be aware of his death. Because it helps focus a man’s kingship. 

So let’s touch into that a bit, now, with an exercise:

• Let yourself relax. Take a nice big deep breath and bring your awareness into your body.

• Now imagine you are standing by your graveside. See your tombstone, with your name, a few words about you, and your birth date and death date.

• From this point of view, at your graveside, its often easy to see what you’re going to end up regretting if you don’t make a change.

• From this point of view, at your graveside, its often easy to see what you should be doing differently in your life, now.

• Let’s make this “dirt simple:” Out of all the advice you could give yourself, what is one thing that it’s clear from here that you need to start saying “no” to?

• What’s one thing it’s clear you need to cut out? To stop being committed to? What’s one project you can get rid of? What do you need to stop indulging?

• What is one thing you would you tell yourself, from the point of view of your graveside, that, if you weren’t going to live forever—and you’re not—that you would stop, now, today?

• Let yourself even say, in your mind, to yourself…what that thing is. From the point of view of “you’re going to die,” what needs to stop, now?

You’ll probably notice your life seems to “come into focus” from your graveside. It’s easier to be present, and to see what’s most important, from the side of your grave.

If you want the authenticity and, yes, the ease of effortlessly being who you truly are, a healthy awareness of your death is the way to do it.

A healthy awareness of Death is a blessing that allows you to easily live, authentically, as who you truly are. 

So, now. Take a few moments to acknowledge yourself for your courageousness in doing this work here today.

You may want to spend a little time journalizing about this. And go make that change, today. 

By Dmitri Bilgere

Dmitri Bilgere is leader of the Inner King Training, and author of “Gateways to God: Remove Your Roadblocks and Live His Love.” Find out more at dmitrib.com

Photo Credit: Estaratshirai via Creative Commons