People have asked this for millennia in conversations and in recorded literature. Why? Do we have trouble with what is true? I would say, yes. All of us struggle with the truth at times — if we are honest. We either seek it or stretch it, falsify it, tell it only in part, and generally manipulate it to benefit our purposes and fulfill our desires. So, we do have decisions about how we will handle the truth. Before we decide how to handle it, we must determine what is truth?
Determining What Is Truth
Haven’t we all had the experience of thinking we were right about something only to find out we were wrong? Then, we also have a problem with knowing and finding the truth as we go about seeking it. We will wrestle with the truth until our dying day unless we pay close attention to how we must value truth in our lives.
We also don’t like it when people don’t tell the truth and lie to us, or to others. It is commonly believed that politicians who tell the truth are few and far between these days. And most politicians seem to think we don’t notice their lies. We have to decide how we will handle the truth and the lies.
Is It “Truth” or “Opinion”?
There can be a wide ravine between the raw truth and what we convince ourselves is the “truth.” It is often due to making assumptions, which by definition are only our opinions about something or someone. It is easy to think of our assumptions as the real truth when they are in fact only the creations of our minds and emotional desires. We also find it hard to keep to the facts at times — especially when our emotions run high — so beware.
HOW Do We Determine What Is True?
How do we find the truth? Many rely on divine authority to give them answers when they don’t know what to do. Since we humans don’t know everything — the future, in particular — we search for ways to convince ourselves of a “truth” in order to calm our fears or excite our hopes.
To whom or what do we turn when we seek the truth? We are limited beings and know only a little (for example: about how our brains and minds work, we know perhaps only one percent), so we need to depend on some greater authority, or on ways to think, or on those we trust.
Our Options for Finding Truth
Here are some guidelines for helping our children and ourselves in finding the truth. The question is, how far down the list do each of us go in finding the truth for ourselves and our lives.
- We can trust in a divine authority.
- Others we have found to be “authorities” on a given matter can be our guides.
- What humans have experienced and have learned to call common sense might be where we can place our trust.
- Reason can be relied upon as our guide.
- We can trust our feelings — but we may find out we are actually pushing a wheelbarrow filled with our own passionate desires. This can become our way of “following our heart.”
- Rationalization of what we want to believe is often used as a source to trust.
- We can just give up and believe whatever seems best at the moment.
The further we go down this list, the more we begin to lose touch with reality and truth. Our culture favors and teaches number seven. Which do you favor and use most?
In my new book Who Am I?, I describe how we have become “crooked thinkers” and how to break out of this prison of the mind to become instruments of change for a better world by recognizing the source of our value as humans. You can get your copy HERE. (Psst! Subscribers to my weekly updates can receive a 15% discount and free shipping from that link!)
DISCOVER THE TRUTH OF WHO YOU ARE!
Lean into the whole truth by discovering the truth of who YOU are — the “Real You” — and who your children truly are. Discover how to best engage your children in finding the whole truth. Our team at InnerKinetics is ready to provide that help. If you’d like some assistance, you can request a consultation and an InnerKinetics consultant will call you to answer questions and schedule your meeting. Schedule an Initial Consultation. If you are more independent and want to cut to the chase, you need not wait for a call back because you can get answers to your questions and schedule your session HERE.
THE WAY TO HAVE A HEALTHY MENTAL SYSTEM
WEEKLY HELP FOR YOUR MIND/BRAIN
This weekly addition to my articles provides practical guidance for the application of commonly known facts about brain health.
WHY WE NEED TO EXERCISE OUR BODIES TO DEVELOP AND FEED OUR BRAINS
(Don’t skip these five reasons.)
Reason 4: Why We Need to Exercise Our Bodies to Develop and Feed Our Brains
Our whole body is a network of nerves, carrying vast amounts of messages daily from our extremities to our brains and back, and from and to every region in-between. Use is the purpose for their existence. Our brain and bodies thrive on being used — especially if they are used with purpose in mind. Purpose brings meaning to the moments of life and to all our activities. Don’t live your life without a clear understanding of purpose.
Life is motion.
The less movement, the fewer life throbs in those never-to-be-lived-again moments. Abraham Lincoln once said, “It’s not the years in your life that count, but the life in your years.” This man of great perseverance spoke words of wisdom. It’s the life and movement in our years that count. Is the desire for a life of great pleasure and rewarding quality of mind and body our goal? Don’t lose any of your years to empty pleasure.
Keep everything about your physical and mental systems active and reaching for the goal of a happy rewarding life to the very last breath. Reach and stretch for the sky. It’s not just a good physical exercise, but it is also a mental stretch that stirs the repositories of wisdom deep within our souls.