Wanao Fikru No

As I begin to reflect and plan for 2025, I think back to what has helped me advance in my goals in the previous years and what has prevented me. Even with my goals, I think back to what has helped me determine them and where they are rooted from. While it is God’s plan that will always unfold in His own timing, the value that has consistently help me ground myself, navigate the uncertainty, and aligning myself with what is meant for me: authenticity.

During the pandemic, I read a ton of self help books and listened to podcasts that interviewed today’s self help gurus: Brene Brown, Deepak Chopra, Oprah Winfrey, Don Miguel Ruiz, the list goes on and I will continue to reference these folks as they have been foundational in my learning. They all touched upon the power and importance of taking time to find your authentic self.

What do you mean by “taking time to find your authentic self?”. Someone once said authenticity is the character of being real and true to yourself. We live in a world where we have an abundance of access into others ways of living, thoughts, habits and accomplishments. While they can serve as inspiration, I believe the access has been manipulated by adopting a copy and paste method: following the latest trends just to fit in to what might be acceptable or successful to society. I don’t believe we have not been encouraged to take the time in figuring out what makes us happy, brings us satisfaction and fulfillment. I believe taking this time, to find your authentic self, occurs in solitude: decreasing the external noises and increase the voice within you, ultimately His voice.

Society has adopted this hustle culture while the Bible repeatedly tells us to live life quite contrary to that. One of those reminders lives in Psalm 37:7 which reads “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him; do not fret yourself over the one who proposers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!” It is in this stillness where I can hear His voice within me. It is in this stillness that I have found my authentic self and this doesn’t just happen in one instance but rather creating time on a daily basis to ground myself in stillness and prioritize time with Him before meeting the demands of the world ahead of me. By doing so, He reveals to you your gifts and talents that you are meant to share with the world. With the commitment to pursing His will comes the courage to act on it, despite how it may appear to other’s naked eye.

By tuning into my authentic self, I understood that I would be on the path of living according to God’s will in my life. I mean if I was trying to mold myself into someone else’s path, I would be missing all His has uniquely planned just for me! That was and is the encouragement I need to always stay within my character and direct my energy towards what brings me peace, fulfillment, joy and love. Because that is where i find Him and feel Him the most. I referred to solitude earlier but I would like to clarify that you are never alone. You might be alone physically on this earth yet I can assure you He is always with you. He has been my constant through all seasons of my life, both good and bad to my naked eye. By decreasing myself and increasing Him, I have found who Bitu is and continue to learn as I align my actions and thoughts to His will in my life. and genuinely, being authentically myself has given me so much peace…..

As I continue to share my journey with you all, I hope this serves as encouragement to find your authentic self and scream it at the top of your lungs. By vocalizing and showing up as who you are and what you value, you allow yourself to be put in the spaces and places you were meant to be in and trust me when i say you will know when it happens! So many times, I find myself in a setting and my only reaction is “It is only God who has brought me here”. and where He takes you, He will see you through.

Until the next entry, I pray He provides you with courage, strength, love to be the person He put you on this earth to be.