The Truth
Truth is often uncomfortable. It is only comforting to those who do not wish to ignore it. Then, truth becomes not only comforting, but inspiring.
- Conversations With God
I remember studying for my PT cert back in early 2000, and most people that I told almost always enthusiastically said “Wow, you’re going to help a lot of people!”. Interestingly enough, none of them said “Wow! You must be really passionate about training”. In hindsight they’re both true, but it burned me that that was their reaction to me wanting more for myself. That it seemed to have to be immediately twisted into a altruistic action instead of a selfish one. At that time, even my own truth was obscured by what is culturally palatable. And Being that I’m a product of this culture, my reaction was to be that which I was not. And this “not being” was in adopting the role of the selfless helper person wanting to help the needing person achieve their fitness goal. My reality was that I just wanted to work out all the time and sculpt the body of my fantasies. The point of calling it out has nothing to do with right or wrong, but much more to do with honesty and the effect that our communication of our truth will have. In this particular case I don’t know what that admission would look like in relation to the person receiving the truth. And since the truth was relatively benign, any pulled triggers that it may elicit would be their’s to work out. But I know what truth telling looks like in relationship to my Self, And how that truth and the resulting self alignment of spoken truth would resonate. There are naturally many potholes along Truth highway and this is why it’s the hope that discernment comes along with self honesty, and we check our feelings and intent before we are honest in all situations. The by product of this feelings check is containment, which has been one of the greatest gifts I’ve given to myself. To not reactively respond, to think of a appropriate response, or to question responding at all and allow the charged emotion to pass through me. A revolutionary concept in our provocative and reactive world where one needs to wonder if an event was even experienced if it wasn’t electrified. For so many fighting to individuate, I would offer you the opportunity to do so by stepping back. This is the role of the Ninja or peaceful warrior and it is the practice that I imperfectly integrate.
When the truth about Self is well in practice, the truth in relation to another can become a progressive strength exercise. Just like adding more weight to the bar after you’ve become acclimated, you can begin to challenge yourself with truth about your feelings and their impact on others. What was once uncomfortable becomes the most interesting place to be! A mental jenga between wants, reaction, principles and vision. And ultimately a call to question a personal definition of harm, and whether my truth may be infringing on another’s desire to be. If I’m able to balance another’s “being” with the desire to speak my truth, I see the light. And through this illumination cast a view unobstructed by distance, culture, color, or religion. Imagine a considered world.