Instead of admitting we yearn for a friend who abandoned us, we say we don’t care that they left. Instead of sharing that we feel hurt by a friend’s teasing, we tell ourselves we’re being too sensitive. Instead of admitting we’ve outgrown a friend, we tell ourselves everything is fine. We contort our natural feelings and instead justify, rationalize, or dismiss. Authenticity, however, involves allowing ourselves to feel rejected by the friend who abandoned us, hurt by our friend’s taunts, or incompatible with our childhood friend. It’s a state of internal honesty. It’s who we are underneath
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