| ~ My Truth ~ |
| You can envision the concept of "My Truth" if you imagine that each of us is a camera that sees the world through a slightly different lens and angle. The lens is affected by our backgrounds, culture, life experience and genetics. It is also mediated by our emotional framework and the degree to which we are invested in the event we are viewing. Though we are looking at the same scene our image of that scene, "Our Truth" ~ is at least slightly different from anyone else's. Sometimes it's vastly different. Imagine an extended family, the prefect enviornment to see the phenomenon of........ "My Truth" in full flower. A family is sitting at the Thanksgiving table. Over pumkin pie, Uncle Joe and Uncle Don start arguing vociferously about a joint business deal that went bad twenty years ago. If you were to poll the other nine people sitting around the table, you'd find that even though they witnessed the exact same argument, each had a different story or...... "Truth," about what happened between the two men at the table. "So what is the real truth"? Aunt Rose, Uncle Joe's wife, has a sad "camera lens" because she's lived for two decades with the loss of their nest egg. She thinks it's Don's fault because he made the bad investment and in her mind, he started the fight tonight. On the other hand, Great - Aunt Ida is well off, so the money angle is of no interest to her. She sees the fight as completely childish. Cousin Bob, a therapist, thinks it's healthy for men to express their emotions openly. Lynette, a mother of two and an in-law is appalled, because her own family would never air its dirty laundry like this. Seven year old Melissa thinks the whole thing is funny, while younger sister Madeline is frightened. So who's right? They are all right. Each reaction is honest and valid. We can never be wrong with our truth because the viewing lens is uniquely ours. The best we can do is.... To tell our truth honestly and allow others to do the same...... If this family endeavored to find an objective truth, they would waste a great deal of time. Undertaking the impossible task of assigning right and wrong could lead to a division into camps, misunderstandings, blame and alienation - in short, a polarized family. By contrast, allowing each person to have their own truth leads to a unified family that encourages a diversity of viewpoints. This creates a gentle, accepting and happier group text reprinted from the book........ "How we choose to Be Happy" by: Rick Foster & Greg Hicks...reprinted with permission |
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