Tell the truth - integrity is the key to living an authentic life. Part I of this two-part installment is my thoughts on the card, the phrase, the insight, the concept of the day - TRUTH. Before speaking my truth(s) out loud, or online as it were, I must first decide how I feel about the truth and whether or not I even know what the truth is. In part 2 I will Tell the truth, in an attempt to open myself up to the things I know and believe. I will try to decode my own lies and say what I mean, "Say what I need to say".
Are truth and integrity synonymous always? Must one speak truth if the only outcome is pain? Where do we draw the line between being truthful and being helpful? Or is this simply the way we convince ourselves that lying is alright?
The truth may set you free - but what does it do to those around you, and if you speaking the truth alienates everyone you love... what good is that?
Perhaps being true to yourself is more important? If we can find the strength to trust in our own abilities, our own decision-making skills then perhaps we can access the strength to share with others what no one else will - the things they need to hear.
Can we handle the reciprocation, though? If we dish is out, we best be prepared to receive it back ten-fold - so are we ready to hear the things no one else will tell us? Can we stomach hearing that we are too judgmental or inaccessible? Can we handle hearing our closest companions say they don't feel comfortable around us, cannot open up to us for fear of dismissal?
Why are we so quick to claim we WANT truth when most of us are "happier" experiencing this ignorance that we have surrounded ourselves with? And yet - when we KNOW that we live in a fantasy land we experience a deep and profound discord... not necessarily even one we can put our finger on just a general unhappiness, a nagging feeling of wrong.
Is clearing your conscience at the expense of others a show of integrity or selfishness? Who are we responsible to, who are we responsible for? Can we truthfully serve anyone if we cannot manage to serve ourself? Can we actually help another if we are consumed by lies and avoidance? Confrontation is not pleasant... few people enjoy it, and those who DO enjoy it, do so for different reasons - they do not seek truth, they crave confrontation, dissent, drama, unrest. It is natural to desire peace both within and beyond ourself - is truth, perhaps, they way to achieve that harmony?
Is love truth?
Perhaps at its most honest, its most open. TRUE love is truth - maybe thats how it acquired the name :-) Truth telling is the way we show that we have nothing to hide, no fear of their judgment, no need to impress at the risk of deception.
And if we don't KNOW what is true? Then what? How do we navigate a life when there are so many different paths to take? How can we impose our thoughts on truth onto anyone else. If we do that, we are no better than the people we regard as ignorant - for isn't putting our truths above another person's truths a mere matter of opinion? Perhaps "truth" is a far more fluid concept than we have been taught. Truth is opinion - people group themselves based on common "truths" - which is GREAT, until they begin to persecute or even judge others for the inconsistencies they find.
And yet.. If no one is wrong, are we all right? If nothing is absolutely true, then is anything? Outside of us, we never KNOW anything. We cannot know another person, another concept to be true - we can guess, educated or otherwise, but to believe is to have faith in the things you cannot prove to be true. This does not make them universal truths, only personal truths and we must be open to the notion that our personal truths may change.
Perhaps that is the only truth.
Love,
M
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