Being Who You Are

June 9, 2015 By upshot

Pam and I are leaving KC this afternoon to join the graduation at Teen Camp. It is a powerful graduation because parents arrive to see their teens after 5 days of being separated. Alot has happened in the 5 days. The teens have spent time going inward and identified barriers in their life that they need to let go of and claimed a “true self”, who they are authentically. Who they are without wounds of anger, insecurity, fears, jealousy, guilt, resentments, and victim rolls. The closing of camp is the parents meeting their teen for the first time and they all in a circle called the “Circle of Blessing”. The teen shares Who they are and gives (verbally) the “Gifts” they see in each parent. The parent in return share a blessing of 4 types. One Blessing is a word of high value and a word picture… like “a day at the beach”, “a lion”, “a heart”, “energizer bunny”, a Star, a Big Ball of Love!… The second Blessing is a blessing of vision or a special future for their teen…The third is a blessing of commitment…and the fourth is a blessing of touch which is usually a hug. It is powerful to see the strength in the family. The strength of love and commitment. Pam and I always have a tissue near by because the tears flow. It’s REAL!
How powerful it is for teens to share the truth of who they are and parents their to give support and encouragement. We know they will be tested. Life will test them. There will be life challenges that will make their walk difficult at a given point of choice. Will they choose wisely the behavior that reflects who they are? Will their choice be that young man or young women of integrity that they claim in a moment of honest clarity? We know not all the time. Our walk is not about perfection, it is about GROWTH. I remember clearly a returning teen just starting the camp pulled me aside and said “Wayne, High School doesn’t care Who I Am.” I agreed not all the time and asked the most important question…”DO YOU?”

Being Who We Are is our true north! It is a way that grounds us to make the best life choices. Taking time to go inside and discovering our trues selves and then actualizing it in our lives. In other words making it real experiencing the power of being true to oneself. It is a life of freedom. I will always remember my friend Justin who shared with me following his Focus experience that he was in job interview and asked on of those no win questions. He gave his best answer by saying, “I’m not sure what I would do in that moment, but I do know that what ever decision I made, I would make sure at the end of the day I could look myself in the mirror and know I had not lost WHO I AM!

Share your medicine and help someone gain the tools to  live out of their true self and enjoy the abundance of BEING WHO THEY ARE!

Be, Do Have,

Wayne