Beginnings can be challenging. You aren’t yet privy to all of the nuances that make a job or task work with as little resistance as possible. This experience is true of a new home, a new job, a new relationship, any time you are beginning anything at all! It is true with life. Beginnings are both terrifying and exhilarating, like climbing a mountain. As you take your first tentative steps, it might seem impossible, but with persistence, you can reach any summit.

Most people don’t have someone who can guide them or fill them in on what to expect in this adventure called life. As you go through its stages, there are many experiences you will have to deal with to feel normal. Some tests seem pointless at the moment, but the value is only revealed to you years later. There are many things to learn in life, and one of the most important is who you exactly are. That is the real new beginning. To realize you have a chance to learn everything.

Beginning of Your Education

As you may have figured out, the beginning of your education did not start when you entered kindergarten, and it didn’t end when you graduated from high school, college, grad school, etc. The rudiments of academics were a tool to reward, develop, and learn how to learn. But the joke was on us. The real lessons were not the subjects but the space surrounding them. The people, relationships, and thoughts you were exposed to along the way. These tests are the ones we continue to be faced with throughout our journey.

Life is a consistent educational experience that teaches its lessons with the cold and hard slap of trial and error. We try, we fail, we learn, we plan, we try again. Continually it goes on, and those that are lucky learn quickly, and those who don’t may lag, and the lag can be pretty painful. The great thing is that as long as you are alive, you will always have a chance to catch on and make up for the lost time. Learning is an equal opportunity activity available for any fertile mind. Allow yours to grasp it—no matter what age, you can still learn every day.

Beginning to Accept Ourselves

Going along with school and learning, you will find out early and often that a consistent theme in life is making mistakes. How we view mistakes is going to determine what type of learners we are. We can allow them to define us, or see them for what they are, valuable learning experiences. Too many people fear mistakes as a personal indictment of their character and talent. All an error is, especially in an academic setting, is a chance to learn. Learn and reach goals, achieve accomplishments, grow your mind, and experience.

Mistakes are often hard masters that sear their lessons into your existence. It doesn’t take too many hearts wrenching; face slaps of reality to know that some mistakes don’t need to be made more than once. Life will continually flog you with the same mistakes if you are a slow learner until you finally get the lesson. Don’t worry about developing perfection because you will continue to make mistakes your entire life. Not letting yourself be beaten up by mistakes because of someone else’s perception of you, schedule of being, or becoming just plain miserable is the trick to enjoying life. Stand up, dust yourself off, and begin again.

Your Authentic Self

Every person is born with authentic talent or skill that belongs exclusively to them. Life appears to be a process where original you are continually covered up and often forgotten by everyone, including you. There are many ways in which this happens; outside of us, people say your authentic self isn’t good enough, is silly, unrealistic, or doesn’t fit into what is acceptable in society. “That’s nice, but you can’t make a living at it.”

The other is on the inside. As we make mistakes and fall short, we let them discourage us and attack our self-esteem. When mistakes happen, we pine away for better decisions in the past rather than learn the lesson and move on. Our authentic selves get buried underneath the harsh evaluation of “I should have done that,” or “I could have done this,” or “I would have gone there.” We pile on the blame to ourselves, and soon we only see our limitations, expecting to fall short. We are less than what we should be. Your authentic self is a talented, unique, and fantastic person. Don’t let the fear of a mistake rob you of giving your gift to the world. Whatever it may be. It is time to begin again and climb that mountain.

You Alone Can Do It

The good news is that another beginning comes to most people; it is the beginning of searching for that authentic self. It may start as a gentle nudge in your soul; you may feel like things aren’t quite right. Or it may be jarred loose by a tragic event—the idea of who the violent rock slide of events suddenly uncovers you. The death of someone you cared about, the sudden and unexplained ending of a relationship, or the sudden loss of a job can force you to reevaluate where your mental state is. Is this all there is? Maybe a question you start to ask yourself in private.

I have learned that there is no one path to reach this authenticity, no one process, but many avenues that can direct different individuals to their authentic selves. Some know what their true self is all about; others have to keep searching through the rubble of regret and self-criticism until the truth is discovered like gold amid so much dirt and debris. And then begin again and start to climb that mountain all over again.

Yes, it can and will be found. We seem to spend the first half of our lives hiding this treasure, and the second half is spent trying to get back to this unique inner talent and strength that you have. You can only take this journey, some will help you along the way, but in the end, it has to be you that accepts you, your talent, and your responsibility. Then one step at a time, it is time to begin again.

“The closer you stay to emotional authenticity and people, character authenticity, the less you can go wrong. That’s how I feel now, no matter what you’re doing.” – David O. Russell

“There is a certain kind of respect for authenticity today that there wasn’t back in the days when they did ‘Cleopatra,’ where everything looked like a giant motel. People want to have it be authentic in the look and trustworthy in the way people behave.” – John Milius

“Just be what you are and speak from your guts and heart – it’s all a man has.” – Hubert Humphrey

“Hard times arouse an instinctive desire for authenticity.” – Coco Chanel

“We need to find the courage to say NO to the things and people that are not serving us if we want to rediscover ourselves and live our lives with authenticity.” – Barbara de Angelis

“No one man can, for any considerable time, wear one face to himself, and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which is the true one.” – Nathaniel Hawthorne