The Quest for Authenticity: Navigating Health and Self-Discovery

I almost started my day off with a video from YouTube this morning.

I didn’t watch it, but the front of the video said 1% better.

I regained my scrolling self-control.

By choosing to leave the video unwatched, I discovered my workout playlist. I embarked on a sprint, feeling a profound sense of self-discovery.

It all started with that video that I didn’t watch.

It got my wheels turning in my mind.

While on the treadmill, I thought I wouldn’t say I liked the idea of 1% better.

I refuse to be just 1% better. I am capable of more, of being different, and I embrace that.

I need to be more than 1% better.

I want to be different.

It’s crucial to ask ourselves: What truly resonates with us?

For me, it’s not number 1 but number 4.

Now, 4% better is something I can resonate with and stand behind.

The number 4, according to numerology, is my life path number.

This number has always held special significance for me. Incorporating the number 4 into my life will bring me closer to my intended path.

Following the signs of the number 4 will guide me toward my purpose.

The more I embrace my true self, the more I discover who I am and what I can offer to the world.

Should we change who we are because others see opportunity in our character, or should we remain true to ourselves?

I am an introvert, and I have never had the desire to spend time with a lot of people at social gatherings, etc.

If I can politely devise an excuse to escape it, I will.

Everyone always told me I should go out more.

It is others who are extroverted who should spend some time alone.

But no one ever says that.

Why should I listen to them? How would extroverts feel if I kept them away from socializing?

Wouldn’t the world and us benefit more from standing in our truth?

As I gave my all on the treadmill to an uphill sprint, I couldn’t help but think about another question.

Could finding a diet that resonates with who we are be the answer to many of our health problems?

In Ayurveda, they believe that we have different types of doshas and that we should eat according to each dosha.

I studied the concept of doshas in Ayurveda for a while.

In Ayurveda, doshas are the energies that make up every individual, and it is believed that we should eat according to our dosha for optimal health.

However, this approach needed to be revised for me.

I felt that their solution to balancing doshas through eating would somehow change me from the person I am.

However, I resonate with the idea that we are all different and should pay closer attention to our bodies' signals when we eat.

And I am not referring to the signals from our tongues.

Everyone has always said to me that I need to relax that I need to slow down.

I have contemplated yoga and meditation, but why?

Is that who I am?

Why do we try to be someone that we are not?

Yoga is not who I am. A meditator is not who I am.

I am too driven for that, and anyone who knows me can not imagine me meditating or doing yoga.

My astrology chart says I have Pluto in my first house.

This placement in astrology, likened to the story of a phoenix rising, can indicate someone constantly rebuilding through self-development.

Is this why I know I will never be satisfied with myself?

Is this why I have struggled to clarify my path to fulfill my purpose?

For so long, I have felt very unclear about this direction.

I have been searching just the surface of what I want to do.

Like asking myself what do you like doing?

Answer: I like to run.

That answer is too general.

But it’s been easy to dig deeper beyond that surface answer…

See, here’s the thing: I like running but can’t just run.

I need more than to run.

I have never loved running in my whole life.

I have liked it but not loved it….but you know what I love?

I love to sprint- and I mean, I love it; deep inside, I feel like it is a part of who I am and how I need to move.

Is it who I am?…

Yes. That is how I feel.

My Mom always said I was an extremist.

The word balance has been whispered to me for the last few years.

My inner intuition may tell me I need more of that.

I even wanted to believe that my Mom watching over me had told me I needed to find this.

And maybe that is part of why I have heard that word whispered to me a lot over the last few years.

But I feel like that is not who I am — maybe I shouldn’t say it out loud to the universe.

I mean, after all, perhaps that’s cementing the whole idea that I am an extremist into existence.

But I am who I am.

There is a massive part of me that loves that I am an extremist.

I’ve come to understand that balance is not about moderation but about embracing all aspects of myself.

If you look at things differently, that ironically makes me balanced.

Imagine two sides of the pendulum — it goes all the way in one direction and then in the other.

Doesn’t that make it balanced?

I run as fast as I can for a long time and slow down for a long time.

I eat ravenously for one meal one day, and the next day, I eat nothing.

Like the ocean, I am with its stormy thunderous waves, only to be still like a lake in the next breath.

My point is that maybe what’s most important is finding the direction that makes you feel right.

We all have an inner compass.

If we listened to what it told us, we would all be better at being true to ourselves and contributing to our world.

What do you resonate with?

When we were children, did we not do that?

When we had the freedom to explore, did we not do that?

Did we ignore the call when we found something that made us feel happy and connected with who we were?

The word balance may have been whispered to me for another reason.

Maybe my Mom has been telling me that I need to stop working for other people so much and instead work for myself — on myself.

She always spoke of me becoming more — not that she made me feel like I wasn’t enough.

It is just that my Mom believed in my writing. She used to say, “You will one day have your party store where you can put your writings on your cards, and I will be your accountant.”

The more time I spend on my truth, the closer I feel to accepting myself. This journey of self-acceptance is inspiring and motivating.

Instead of conforming to external expectations, I align with what resonates with my soul, empowering myself with every decision.

I need passion.

I need to feel connected to whatever I give my energy to because that is when I feel the happiest in my soul.

And although the story that I was always told is that slow and steady wins the race, I have never been a turtle.

So why try to be a turtle?

After all, according to Chinese astrology, I was born a dragon.