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One of a Kind News

Table of Contents

1. Welcome Notes
2. Article -- Be Your Own Kind of Beautiful
3. Words of Wisdom
4. Resources

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I love hearing from readers. If you would like to write to me, send an email to Sharon@sharondemarte.com. Do not reply to this message, as it won't get to me.

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1. Welcome Notes

I always like to welcome new subscribers and there have been several since I last wrote. So, welcome new subscribers! I'm glad you are here! I hope my newsletters enhance your life in some way. If you would like to review past issues of One of a Kind News, click on http://sharondemarte.com/newsletter.html and go to the Archives.

As you know, I haven't written in several months. After my ruptured appendix episode in March, I experienced a period of extremely low energy. I am prone to chronic fatigue and because of that, I have had to learn much about what enhances energy and what drains it. I have had to become a very good energy
manager.

According to Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum, author of "From Fatigued To Fantastic!" there are three to six million people in this country currently suffering from chronic fatigue. And, he says this number is growing. For a person afflicted with chronic fatigue, energy becomes more precious than gold.

Looking back on my life over the last decade, I have come to realize that chronic fatigue has been a gift to me. It has taught me things that I may never have learned without it. Actually it has changed my whole way of life for the better.

In the next few issues I want to share with you ways to raise your own life energy. I will start in this issue with the biggest energy drain that I know of and that is not being your authentic Self.

Enjoy.

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2. Be Your Own Kind of Beautiful

Have you ever felt like there is more than one of you? There is. There is the You that God created and there is the you that you created. I like to call these two selves the authentic Self and the strategic self.

The strategic self is that part of you that you created to protect your authentic Self. It's the part of you that helped you survive your childhood when your authentic Self was not always appreciated by parents, teachers and peers. The strength of your strategic self depends on both the circumstances of your childhood and how you perceived those circumstances. The more painful the childhood, the stronger the strategic self you likely created.

Your strategic self is valuable. She developed many skills to help you survive in this world, when you need them. So you can call on your strategic self and all of her skills during times when you do need to protect your Self.

The problem arises when your strategic self is in control when you don't need her protection. The key is to be able to choose which self is in control.

We all know when we are being authentic or not. We also can sense when another is being real or not. We may not be aware of it at a conscious level, but our body knows and communicates it to us by feelings of comfort and discomfort.

When I am being real, my body feels comfortable and at ease. I feel grounded, centered and strong. I am coming from a place of love. I feel joy and inner peace. I am connected to my source who I call God. I am being real, telling my truth; I am inner directed. What I say and what I do is based on my inner being, my spirit, my essence. My energy is enhanced.

When I am being my strategic self, my body feels uncomfortable and ill at ease (think disease). I feel weak and vulnerable. I think I must protect myself. I am coming from a place of fear. I feel separate from God and others. Instead of being real, I am being who I think you want me to be or who I think will get me what I want. I am being outer directed. My energy is drained.

A dear friend gave me a print with the title "Be Your Own Kind of Beautiful". It's a picture of a bouquet of 11 red roses with one stunning daisy in the center. To me that picture speaks a thousand words. It tells me that it's not only ok to be unique; it's beautiful to be unique.

Your authentic Self is unique. There is not another You in this world. You are one-of-a-kind. And that You is beautiful! Don't let anyone tell you different!

Here are some questions that can help you on your journey to becoming more and more your authentic Self, which, by the way, will give you lots more energy.

1. When you are being authentic, who are you being?

2. What are some expressions of your authenticity?

3. Are there times/places where you are most likely to be authentic?

4. Are there times/places where you are less likely to be authentic?

5. When you are not being authentic, who are you being?

6. What would you need to shift to be authentic with those who are important to you?

7. What actions will you take this week to be more authentic?

In addition, create names for your authentic and strategic selves. This brings perspective and humor, which is always good.

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3. Words of Wisdom

"There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action; and because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique. If you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. You must keep that channel open. It is not for you to determine how good it is, or how valuable, or how it compares with other expressions. It is for you to keep it yours, clearly and directly."
--Martha Graham

"Be yourself, no base imitator of another, but your best self. There is something which you can do better than another. Listen to the inward voice and bravely obey that. Do the things at which you are great, not what you were never made for."
--Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Each man had only one genuine vocation--to find the way to himself--His task was to discover his own destiny--not an arbitrary one--and live it out wholly and resolutely within himself. Everything else was only a would be existence, an attempt at evasion, a flight back to the ideals of the masses, conformity, and fear of one's own inwardness."
--Hermann Hesse

"We will discover the nature of our particular genius when we stop trying to conform to our own or to other peoples' models, learn to be ourselves, and allow our natural channel to open."
--Shakti Gawain

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4. Resources

Your Sacred Self, Making the Decision to Be Free, by Dr. Wayne Dyer

A Return to Love, by Marianne Williamson

Written by two of my favorite authors and spiritual teachers, both of these books have been on my bookshelf for years. I pick them up every couple of years and read them again. Highly recommended if you are interested in spending more of your life as your authentic Self.

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Until we meet again, remember to:

Count your garden by the flowers,
Never by the leaves that fall.
Count your days by golden hours,
Don't remember clouds at all.
Count your nights by stars, not shadows.
Count your years with smiles, not tears.
Count your blessings, not your troubles.
Count your age by friends, not years.
--Lyvonn Berry

Blessings to you and yours,

Sharon

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Copyright © 2000-2003 all rights reserved.
U.S. Library of Congress ISSN: 1536-5891
Permission is granted to reproduce, copy or distribute One of a Kind News so long as this copyright notice and full information about contacting the author is attached. The author of this newsletter is: Sharon L. Demarte, M.A.