When we fully embrace who we are — all of it — we become a magnet attracting the people, opportunities, experiences, and abundance that we desire.

We can call in what we want when we show the world that we are ready, able, and worthy of receiving what the abundant universe has to offer. The masks that keep us “safe” in the world — that we falsely believe keep others from judging and keep us from falling — too often require us to betray our nature. We then become disloyal to our sense of integrity and play games that keep us on the sidelines or playing far too small to feel true satisfaction from life.

This drama is so familiar to us that it’s present in stories all over: the student adopts the trend and finally gains the attention of the popular kids, but the connection they want lies with the kids who have unique and heartfelt interests; the downtrodden salesman ignores his values and becomes wealthy only to realize his moral bankruptcy is worse than financial hardship.

We all want to act as the hero in this kind of story, but we regularly find ourselves looping in the tragic first acts, never getting to the feel-good payoff. Most of us are far more comfortable heeding the call of conformity, though we know (and usually hear some part deep down crying out) that hiding who we are is not how we want to live.

Herein lies the importance of self-awareness: we must first recognize the voice within calling us toward authenticity and integrity so we can actually discern whether we are honoring our values or not. This is the proverbial “work,” and it is a noble endeavor toward authenticity, toward that magnetic presence that affords us the opportunity to say yes to the life we want and set our sails wholly and boldly for that horizon.

Have you ever felt like a situation should feel different, bigger, or more important, but been unable to access or explain why it didn’t? Or have you ever reacted in a way that feels way overblown for the situation at hand? These reactions are reflections of parts of us that often go unheard, unnoticed, or are even totally unconscious within us, but they play out in our lives when we aren’t present to how the body is reacting and how our nervous system learned to respond this way.