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The most courageous thing a person can do is to live an authentic life. What is an authentic life? It is a life lived from your heart, speaking your truth, standing in your truth, living in your truth.

The problem with getting to this point of authentic freedom is that for most of us, we have no idea of who we really are. To get to know who you really are you must go deep within. You must be willing to look at all of your limiting beliefs; beliefs that tell you that you are bad, you are not worthy, you are not capable, and you are not enough, just to name a few.

We take limiting beliefs on our whole lives. From early childhood we learn from our parents, grandparents and siblings. Their opinions begin to shape and define us. Then as we grow, our peers and teachers affect us most. Society also plays a tremendous role in telling us who we are. It's up to us to know the truth.

Recently I had some Chinese food. As usual, I went for the fortune cookie first. That's the little kid inside of me wanting the sweet stuff first. 'You will get what you want as long as it is not extravagant.' I chewed on that fortune for a moment, agreeing with it. Then the taste of those words grew sour to me. I realized this was a limiting belief. "Whoa!" I said to myself. "Is this the truth for me?"

I knew instantly that I had held myself back my whole life, especially since my teenage years, from living with overflowing abundance. When I was a teenager my family was pretty well off. We lived on Country Club lane on ten acres. We had a beautiful home and pool, drove nice cars, my dad had his own business and my mom stayed at home with my sister and me. We had most everything we could possibly need. I also did great in school. I graduated Salutatorian, was president of this and a member of that. I was the all-around student. However, and this is a big HOWEVER, I often felt judged for my abundance. I felt separate from the crowd because I felt different. What I didn't know until opening that fortune cookie was that I began to limit myself over the years with what I allowed myself to have. I had a limiting belief that if I lived with overflowing abundance then no one would like me.

Now I realize to truly live with authentic freedom that I must allow myself to live with overflowing abundance. I am overflowing abundance. And as I allow myself to receive this from the universe and release all limiting beliefs that people won't like me, my abundance can then overflow to the world around me.

We are all worthy of living fully with overflowing abundance. If you don't believe this for yourself, then I ask that you look at your limiting beliefs. This is just one limiting belief, and, boy, let me tell you, we all have many.

Limiting beliefs are like a cage locked tight with no opening in sight. But when you realize that you are the one who holds the key in releasing these beliefs, only then can you find freedom. Freedom comes from within. It comes from getting to know who you really are, releasing all limiting beliefs. And as you release your limiting beliefs and stand in your truth, your example shines a light for the whole world to see. Freedom will be yours when you give yourself permission to live authentically.