Quest for Authenticity

The word authenticity begs a quest, as everyone is wanting to be this thing, authentic. Posers prevail in a smoke and mirrors world and it is rare that someone, anyone, asks with keen interest, what do you value?  This past weekend marked the one year mark of the start of my quest for this authenticity thing, and what I learned is that it forever and always, starts with me, by going within. The tools of the coaching trade draw heavily on what is valuable, valued, and from this starting point, the inner spot light searching begins. Was I inauthentic before, insincere, disingenuous, a big hairy liar?  I don't believe this to be true, but I did have defence mechanisms in place and I probably still do, although they are smaller and easily identifiable and thankfully, I am willing to have them knocked down with an out of order sign placed on them. This takes me back to me, and you, and valuing self as the answer to the question of being authentic.  Pleasing others is a guessing game, sometimes we get it right, sometimes we miss the mark, making us wonder what we did wrong or could have done differently.  When living according to what we value, we stop this nonsensical game and start being what we believe.  I believe in my own humanity, that it am here to love and learn, share and receive, and so much more. How can I go wrong when these are my guiding principals, when these are my valuables? What are yours, who are you, who knows the real you and if no one does, what are you protecting yourself from?