When I was much younger, there was a TV show called, To Tell the Truth. In it, three people would come on the show and present themselves to a celebrity panel. One of the three people had a unique story to tell – they had an unusual occupation or experience – while the other two pretended to be that person. The panel had to determine who was telling the truth. The two imposters were allowed to lie while the person being her/himself was required to tell the truth.
When I think about that game now, I think the person required to tell the truth had the most difficult job. Why do I say that? Because sometimes I‘m afraid to tell the truth even though I hold truth-telling as a major value. When I say “I,” I don‘t mean my conscious self, I mean my subconscious self. I‘m not aware that I‘m not telling myself the truth. It‘s that at a subconscious level, I‘m afraid to access my deepest feelings. And, like the beautiful poem, Our Deepest Fear, by Marianne Williamson, it‘s usually because I‘m afraid to stop being small and to dream big – afraid to trust and believe in myself or afraid to admit that I want a more expansive life.
What dreams are you hiding from yourself? What would it take for you to believe in yourself?
Deb – just giving you a shout out – been enjoying seeing your work blossom from a distance. Hope all is well – as it is on our end. :-)
Thank you, Joyce!! Glad to hear all is well.
Wonderful reminder… can you email me that once a week?! Thanks for the meaningful posts here!
:) Thanks Tip.
I very much like how you connected the TV program, To Tell the Truth, to your present-day experience, Deb. Here’s how I made sense of it for myself: When I am a member of a group or system and frustrated with how things are going, I have to Tell the Truth to myself about what I’m doing to help create or exacerbate the problem. How am I the problem? How can I account for myself in a way that might begin a process of the group and other members holding themselves accountable so that together we might undo the Gordian knot of nastiness that we somehow co-created? I think it all begins with my willingness to acknowledge my own culpability, at least to myself (can I at least be honest with myself?) and then having the courage to put me out there in my culpability and vulnerability…and to do all this before I point the finger at anyone else. Thanks for providing an opportunity for some valuable self-reflection.
Thanks for sharing your reflection, Rianna
Thank You. I am so in that place. With retirement funds not fitting the bill, having to dig daily for my gifts and keep down the panic it is a welcome affirmation!
Just recently I was remarking to myself that it has been sometime now that I have not heard from Deb. Thus, it brings me much joy to hear from you, and for extending the opportunity for us to share our thoughts and reflections through this platform that you provide. Just wonderful of your Deb.
Of course living the truth that we know is a very challenging thing in that it requires the exercise of total integrity on our path. I believe that the greatest truth we can live lies in a life of love and service. And if we use that lived love and service as mirrors, we come face to face with our truth. In particular, are we seeing our truth being reflected back to us? Do we like what we’re seeing in these mirrors? If not, what can we do about the discrepancies that we may detect based on our assessment of the feedback that the mirrors give?
Often to correct our perceived shortcomings from our truth we need inspiration and strength that comes from outside of us. And if we love what we do, there is no need for fear or to be fearful living our truth. Why? The truth of love and service generally engenders goodwill among people; and this goodwill itself becomes a shield of protection from harm that untruthful people may seek to launch at us. That’s how I seek to live; and I have discovered that living a life of love and service is one of the most beautiful of experiences that I believe that one can have.
Thanks Anthony – I agree that external inspiration and strength is important. Since we are all interconnected in this world, receiving help from others is vital, isn’t it?
Sure bet that we depend on external help for our existence Deb! E.g., can we live for one moment without the sun’s presence in our world economy? No sun, no life as we know it! In this one case, we see that our lives are linked to the external world. This truth should humble us to recognize that our lives are no so much about us; but they rely on our ability to understand and cooperate with the external creative energies and systems that garnish our wonderful world.
Hey Bernadette,
Somehow I missed your comment – sorry. :(
There are so many different ways to “retire” to enable the “funds to meet the bill.” Don’t let the appearance of a lack of funds get in the way of whatever your dreams are!
Love,
Deb