Who are you ? 6-1-2016

Seriously, who are you when you are being your authentic self?  Are you the same person with everyone you encounter?  I don't think most people are, not a judgment, just an observation.  I was thinking about this because I am genuinely ME all the time.  I am the same whether I am interacting with  family, friends, employers and coworkers or the public at large.  My behavior is no different, no matter the circumstances.

This is not to say that I do not act more silly with some of my close friends, I do, because they allow me to be be me and are not ashamed to be seen with me when I am sillier.  It's a joy thing really.  I am more joyful and therefor silly when I am with them and they are too.  These are the friends that you have "inside jokes" with, and they are the only ones who get it when you do or say them.  Like laughing hysterically when someone merely says ha ha.

But basically I am my genuine, authentic self all of the time.  I had a supervisor once who said of me "you never have to have any doubts when Chris speaks, she is totally honest in her feelings".  I don't hold grudges and if I should have an issue with anyone, I say what I feel and ask them to help me understand their point of view more clearly.  As in "how can I help you to help me be better?". Yes, I actually said that to my boss, although it was more accurately stated as "how can I help you to help me do my job better?'  It wasn't that I was bad at my job, I was the only one who actually could do it, it was more of a supply chain thing and getting my things I needed ordered.  Without supplies there could be no build and I took issue with that.  But I digress.....

The point is that no matter who I am with or where I am, I am always the same, just me being me.  I have observed people over the years and they seem to wear many "faces", each shown to a different segment of population. How they are with friends is not what they are with family and not at all how they are at work.  And I think that must be tiring.  Constantly changing a way of being.  I am forever that inner child, the 6 year old who just loves to laugh and play.  That knows what it wants and attempts to get it, that forgives and forgets hurts only moments after an offense.  That lives in the moment.

So I wonder who other people are when they, too, are being authentic, or more specifically, who they think they are when they are being their true selves.  Or do they even know who their true selves are?  That in the moment (and it actually feels good) self.  I can see it in people, I just wonder if they can.  So who are you when you are being yourself?