Truth isn’t something that can be learned. Truth can only be recognized, as it is an unshakable belief that already exists within you. It’s part of your physical and spiritual DNA. You are your truth and you can never be separated from it. And this is how you show up in life. You can add to the content of your truth, but you can never subtract or detract from it. It’s a bit like you can’t “unsee” something you’ve seen or you can’t “unhear” a bell that has rung. You can choose to forget, but much like a hard drive or the cloud, it will always be in your memory bank. Like truth, you can’t take back the words you have spoken or the actions you have taken. Your truth cannot be undone. But, you can add to it.
In the same way you want others to embrace your truth, and to share your beliefs because it creates common and stable ground for effective communication, others want that too. It’s important to honor another person’s truth, even if it goes against all that you believe and know to be true. Their truth is as important to them as yours is to you.
Truth is as subjective as it can be objectional. Let’s look at a humble slab of marble that has been discarded on the road side. For a moment let’s pretend that the marble reflects all people’s truth. Your truth, is portrayed as just seeing a slab of marble for what it is, just a slab of marble that someone has discarded. And that’s fine, because that slab of marble contains your truth. Michelangelo looked at the same slab of marble and said, “I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.” And that’s fine, because that same slab of marble that had been discarded contained his truth too. His perspective and feelings were different to yours. The difference of opinion doesn’t make one person right nor does it make another person wrong. It just is. “Wow! Who knew there was an angel hiding in that slab of marble laying in the dirt by the road?” My truth, understanding and feelings have grown. Never again will I look at a piece of raw uncut marble as something to be discarded and tossed out into the street.
As I think about truth and the role it plays in our lives and how we communicate with others, I know that my job isn’t to make you believe in my truth. My job is to be a sculptor like Michelangelo, carving, shaping, sharing and showing the value of my feelings surrounding my truth. This can present you with an opportunity to see, feel and to know my truth and to know me, with your own authentic understanding. You can then add that to the content of your truth base, if you choose, expanding upon who you are and how you will now show up in life. Your job is to be a sculptor too. Carving, shaping, sharing and showing the value of your feelings surrounding your truth. This presents me with an opportunity to incorporate it, with authenticity into the content of my truth base, if I choose. This will expand upon who I am and how I will now show up in life, and equally important, how I interact with you.
If Michelangelo had told people, there is an angel in this discarded slab of marble, the majority wouldn’t have embraced his truth. Instead, he carved the angel out and it became an irrefutable fact that still stands Be the sculptor of your truth. Carve it out so people can see what you see, feel what you feel and understand who you are.
You can’t beat your truth into me. Just as I will not beat my truth into you. That is a pointless lesson in futility. I don’t want lip service or a compliant attitude regarding your views on my truths, which are sacrosanct. You see, my truth is inviolable. What I would like is an authentic opportunity to share the value of my feelings surrounding my truths and for you to share yours, so we can create a safe space where an authentic dialogue can take place. Who knows, we may even agree to disagree and in that, find common ground to move forward.
What are you carving out with your truth today?