I respect honesty and sincerity, and I think the more we live and our society evolves; the more demand there will be for AUTHENTICITY.

It is no secret that we have learnt to “put on a show” more than we have learnt to be true to ourselves.

What is rather interesting is that you become more liked for being phony than for being true.  Not to mention the level of energy it takes to pretend than it does to be true.

We are so quick to cover the parts we think others may not be in favour of, because we have become too weak to stand for what we truly believe in.

Because of our survival skills and our need to be relevant, we have placed more emphasis on “quick fixes” than we have on the NEED and importance to endure and go through our process.

I know endurance is not something we have heard much about, or were even taught much about but, we are living in the days and especially the days to come where we are ALL going to need ENDURANCE.

It is then that it will be appreciated and seen for the value it truly adds to ones life.

I have learnt that success does not mean the same for everybody, and really, it does not need to.

However, I believe when we have gotten to a place where we begin to lie to ourselves, we will eventually become destructive to not only ourselves but others.

We are living in a world where it does not take much to attain status or be famous or popular, not when you know how to “put on a good show”.

I mean, if you are not trying to be seen, it won’t even matter because being true will always take precedence over the need to be seen.

Here we are, living in a world where if you know how to play the game, you only need to shout “Preach!” in order to sound deep or make it sound good or how could I forget, you only need to say the “right” words or act the “right” way and before you know it, you are a superstar.

BETTER YET, you win the Grammy or be featured on the world’s best magazines cover.  Oh, please don’t try to come for me… If you do “well”, must you not be awarded?

I mean, you worked for it, It is part of your achievement and success.

The question to ourselves though, after all the hype and celebration, what lasted longer?

Was it the approval we received from men or the scars we got while we went through the process of obtaining and achieving what we did?

If I know anything; it is that your scars are frequent reminders of how far you have come and how much you have gone through.

A journey and a strength so many us are willing to bypass in order to become what they think they need to become.

May we get to a place where life for you, life for me, and life for us becomes more about who we truly are and not an idea of what and who society is demanding or expecting us to be or become.

~ Shelly-Ann Powell

Shelly-Ann Powell is a woman after God’s heart, founder and director of the Impact Nations For Christ organization whose mission is to empower, strengthen and point humanity to the Savior Jesus Christ.

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