FEAR
NOT

October 31, 2007

Drop the mask and be yourself!

You secretly scoff at the twigs-and-nuts crowd but lack the guts to admit that you eat Oreos for breakfast. You consider the current rage for patent leather to be utterly ridiculous, but you wear it anyway for fear of seeming out of step. You vow that one day you're going to lose it and tell everyone exactly what you really think, but do you even know what that is anymore?

If, somewhere between your first lipstick and the knockoff Louis Vuitton satchel you bought in a dark alley last week, the disease to please rendered you unrecognizable to yourself, it's time to break free of a lifetime of phony smiles and fake handbags and embrace the real you! The latest books by pastors T.D. Jakes and Joel Osteen can help with the reunion:

Shake off the shackles of pretense with a good self-examination. Jakes's book, Reposition Yourself: Living Life Without Limits (Atria; $24), encourages you to take stock and then take responsibility for designing the life you really want.

Not fitting in feels scary at times; however, Osteen's new book, Become a Better You: 7 Keys to Improving Your Life Every Day (Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group; $25), offers seven sound strategies for getting on a path toward authenticity, including how not to let others make you feel guilty for who you truly are or the choices you make.

Both books reveal the rewards of living a spiritually and emotionally honest life. The peace that comes with that awareness is worth more than anything you can buy!

Now, say "boo" to shallow living!

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