Are you authentic?

When my son, Scott, was growing up, he played Little League Baseball (and he was a terrific pitcher and batter). There was a boy on Scott’s team named Norman who always seemed to be caught in tough situations, such as being thrown out when stealing a base or having “strike three” called by the umpire.

Whenever any of these situations occurred, Norman would worry all of the mothers watching the ball game because Norman would fall down in agony or, when thrown out while stealing a base, he’d roll on the ground holding his leg and acting as if he was in physical agony.

Those of us who coached Little League Baseball always smiled because we knew that Norman was a performer. He wasn’t really hurt. He just acted like he was hurt and his performances were very, very believable.

I’m mentioning Norman here because I’ve been discussing movie stars in this blog and movie stars are performers too. In essence, movie stars, just as Charlton Heston wrote in his books and introductions, spend the biggest part of their lives pretending to be other people (the characters they portray).

Isn’t it interesting to see people today who aren’t movie stars — yet just like young Norman and nearly all the Hollywood actors — spend most of their time pretending to be people that they aren’t?

I call this a big time waster.

What about you?

Are you really the person you portray yourself to be? You don’t have to answer me here. You might want to look in the mirror, however, and answer the question for yourself. Here’s why.

Most people think time is money, yet I say that time is life. Thus, if you, or any of the people you see who are spending their time portraying themselves to be something other than who they are, they are wasting more than money, they are wasting their life.

Authenticity is crucial for successful relationships, and I say that authenticity is crucial for a successful life.

Does this make sense? Please leave your comments here.