Foundations for the Future

The things you do today are the template for things you will do tomorrow. It’s also the role model for the history that the children around you will remember. People detect your authenticity by the things that you do and the energy that you emit. You create history by the things that you think, say and do. What history does your life tell?

I have recently been working very hard on myself. My history includes traumatic pain that I experienced in my first decade of life. It became evident to me that my challenge with moving forward with my success was stuck somewhere in my history. As I analyzed my situation I realized that the pain of medication being placed directly on my exposed eardrum caused some changes in my thinking that ceased serving me decades ago. Yet I was still holding on to that history. I had not made the necessary ‘tweaks’ to align myself with the thinking required now. But getting back to this history to reprogram it required very conscious effort.

As I talked with friends and listened to various people talk about the challenges in their lives I began to realize that so many of us spend so many decades reprogramming situations we experienced in our childhood. The history of our childhood stays with us throughout our life. Some of us have historical memories that empower us and others that haunt us. And our authenticity is built on this history.

Consider the history that you are exposing to the children in your world. Examine the areas in your life where you might ‘tweak’ thoughts, words or actions to be an empowering role model. The people in your world who look up to you will appreciate these foundations you are creating for their future.

Is it time for a transition in your life?

Transitions take place all the time. Becoming authentic means making transitions from patterns of inauthenticity into a constant state of seeking truth. Sometimes we get so caught up with our goals and desires that we don’t even examine whether or not we are stepping into truth. With my constant focus on authenticity I find myself in this state of mind from time to time too.

Currently I’m making another transition in my life. For years I have had health challenges that require me to be very aware of what I eat. Two years ago I thought I had resolved my dietary challenges then found myself with kidney stones and the need to transition my diet again. Now I’m at a similar place as I step into eating 80% raw food. Since last year was my first year since age 7 that I have not had an ear infection, I’ve learned that transitioning my diet and staying within a certain weight range is the answer to my health challenges. Yet getting and staying there requires great discipline on my part. It’s another transition.

At the other side of transitions is usually a new view of self and the world. We make transitions in order to enable new patterns of thought, communication and/or action to take place in our life. If you are looking for a change in your life, look for the transition that you can make to create new values and step into a new view of you. And this is stepping into your authenticity. 

Are We a Civil Society?

How long are we going to continue to promote a society where children have access to guns and are so angry and out of control that they use them on their classmates? Life has always been hard – every generation has its challenges. As a matter of fact, our challenges as humans going through the process of being human – our challenges are the same, no matter which generation we are born into. Women go through the challenge of monthly cycles to produce children then finance them and care for them – pretty much for the rest of their life in one way or another. Likewise men have the similar challenge without having to actually give birth. We all have the challenge of getting along with each other. We deal with envy, greed, anger, disappointment and sometimes rage in ways that hopefully are acceptable to society. And it seems to me that society has some responsibility in offering ways to help us adjust to life’s challenges. Thus my focus on raising authentic children and teaching them at an early age to recognize and deal with the issues of being human, including emotions.

These are some of the things I wonder about when it comes to how our society is structured to raise children.

• What provisions do we make to help children deal with their emotional development? Are there any classes on ‘being human’ – helping children learn how to recognize and manage their emotions – love, fear, anger, etc. Is this a standard part of school curriculums or only dealt with when there are emergencies?
• How do children get the opportunity to learn about “who” they are? I’m talking about the spirit of the child and understanding the voice that speaks within. Now I’m not referring to religious education where churches help children understand church doctrine. I’m talking about helping the child identify feelings they may be experiencing and identifying responsible ways to deal with their feelings. 

One of the wonderful beauties of being human is being able to feel emotions. Being able to manage emotions is what makes us a civil society. A civil society makes ways for its members to maximize their potential for the benefit of the overall society. How are you doing this for the children in your world?

A “Rush” to Authenticity

Thank you Rush Limbaugh! 

I’m happy that you can’t help but to be your authentic self. You have just done what many have attempted to do for years – unite us and get the Authenticity Movement® started!

Your recent comments about college student Sandra Fluke succeeded in giving you the shock factor you crave. I know this is who you are and why as a society we even know your name. What I guess you didn’t bank on was how un-bankable these comments would be. And you have exposed how ‘the old boys’ support each other. Thanks for the continued revelation.

But now that you have been so authentically transparent, the country has rightfully stood up to you and your outrageous remarks. Even some of the old boys are backing away. I guess when they got home and faced the women in their life they were struck with a personal reality hit them in the face – or maybe in some other body part. Do you think your male support will put you over pillow talk?

It’s evident that you also didn’t consider that women make 90% of the buying decisions for their households. And guess what – they are not buying you! Now that it is touching your pocketbook do you admit that you’ve gone too far? But then again maybe you haven’t. Because if you hadn’t opened your mouth and spouted what you did, the Authenticity Movement wouldn’t be gaining such momentum.

For me, your words have had a great benefit. I’ve often wondered where to find authenticity in America. People seemed to be quite apathetic and most seemed to not only believe but be deeply influenced by what television, billboards and other media advertisements were telling them. I wondered if people could see through the multitude of efforts that are made to separate people from their money for things that have little meaning and less need in their lives. But people do it all the time and focus on things more than people. But you changed all that Rush. You tapped the soul of many people who like me, have been looking for the incident that would get the movement started. And you helped create the “Rush” to Authenticity.

First you have united the women. We are only eight years away from the hundred year anniversary of the woman’s suffrage movement. I guess you started Movement #2. Thanks Rush. Women of all ages, ethnicities and roles have been stepping out from everywhere to protest you and your ideas. And we have you to thank for it.

Secondly you have aroused the Millennial Generation. I am so proud of them. Unlike you and many of your supporters, these young people value human dignity and put great value in building a society that honors collaboration over competition. They seek a world of authenticity.

And third – isn’t it interesting when the same thing you used to discredit us is what is used to discredit you? Now it’s not just media, it’s social media and these women Millennial’s understand it and use it with great efficiency. 

So thank you Rush for getting the Authenticity Movement started. You have touched the hearts of those in our world who truly believe we are here to get along with authentic respect for each other throughout our journey in life. The world and its opinions don’t belong to you and your posse. It’s a different world now and you either join it or step aside while we get the Authenticity Movement started.

Norma T. Hollis, America’s Leading Authentic Voice Doctor® is the founder of the Authenticity Movement, an effort honor the authentic gifts and talents within each of us and be the person we were born to be. Take the Authenticity Assessment and receive other free gifts at GiftsFromNorma.com.

The Academy Awards of Politics

Did you watch the Oscars? I was at a friend’s home playing cards with my monthly group of bid whist players. This month we decided to have a different kind of fun and dressed like one of the characters. Since my name is Norma Jean my friends encouraged me to dress as Marilyn Monroe. So I did.

I showed up in one of my mother’s gowns, did my makeup like Marilyn including the mole on the face and even put on a blonde wig. As a matter of fact I won the award as the best costume although when I looked in the mirror I didn’t recognize Marilyn or myself.

As I watched the awards my mind drifted to the presidential campaign. I’m not aware of an academy award type celebration for political candidates so I pondered what that would look like. I examined the list of 24 award categories that are presented and considered whether any of these awards would fit our current candidates.

I found a few that were relevant then I looked at them through the eyes of authenticity. I am an authority on public speaking and finding your authentic voice, so I’m beginning to look at these political candidates in this light. I created my own awards based on the authenticity of the candidates. Here’s my take:

Best Screenplay Adaptation - Mitt Romney gets this award for his skill at attempting to adapt his personality and voice to the interests of the voters. Romney adapts the screen play not just to play to voters. He changes the script to appease Super Pac supporters, middle class America, women, his hometown, even it seems…his principles.

Best Animated Short Film – Speaker Newt Gingrich for the passionately animated way he expresses himself. He’s the most animated of all the candidates. You can always count on his passion although you might not have a clue what he’s going to say. 

Best Documentary Feature - Ron Paul who keeps you thinking and keeps the story going. 

Because he is great researcher his story is a great documentary. There is consistency in values, beliefs and integrity.

Best Film Editing - Rick Santorum for his skill at extracting edits to meet personal views. Santorum has great skill at taking universal concepts and extracting the part that meets his personal views then imposing his belief system on all of us.

Best Original Story – President Barack Obama for his success at utilizing innovative practices to claim presidential success. As the first president to win through social media campaigning he has created an original way to keep the conversation going.

And one final award:

Best Display of Authenticity

I selected this topic because I am America’s Leading Authentic Voice Doctor® and an authority on assessing authenticity in people and organizations. When I apply the concepts of authenticity to the political candidates I’m actually surprised at what I discovered because the winner is: Rick Santorum.

The reason I selected Santorum is because he has such an authentic way of sharing his beliefs. His message is consistent and unmistakable. While we may not agree with his belief system he is steadfast in it, one of the tenets of authenticity. What you see is what you get and that too is authenticity. Only thing is that it doesn’t resonate authentically with so many people. Even though he wins the Best Display of Authenticity award, Santorum may not be the authentic solution in this election.

Presidential candidates often have script writers to write, edit and research their script. But as the populace we generally don’t have that luxury. So who is writing your script?