June 10, 2021: I’ve been thinking a lot about the Truth lately, as it pertains to my own life.
What is the Truth? Am I telling myself the Truth? If I am not telling myself the Truth, what does that mean about me and/or my life?
Heavy questions! When I looked at these questions and applied them to the current circumstances on the planet, it inspired me to want to dig a bit deeper, and perhaps think a little harder.
What is Truth? According to the Cambridge English dictionary, truth has several definitions:
1. The quality of being true
2. The real facts about a situation, event or person
3. A fact or principle that is thought to be true to most people
We base our opinions on what we believe to be true. We state that if we can see it with our own eyes, it must be true!
However, in the world of Neuro Linguistic Programming, it is understood that with 4 million bits of information coming into our awareness every second, our nervous system must filter much of this information for us. We could not consciously sustain filtering this immense amount of information consciously. Our nervous system then runs that information through our filters, perceptions, and perspectives, quickly followed by deletions, distortions, and generalizations. When you realize how many information filters a person applies in the process of perception, it may start to make sense as to why there is so much divisiveness in the world these days.
Imagine your reality is filled with abuse and fear as a child. Your parents yell at you for reasons you don’t understand because you didn’t do anything wrong. When you tell them that you didn’t do anything wrong and “this” is how it happened, they tell you that you are lying, that the situation didn’t happen that way. You begin to understand that the sands are shifty, and you must prepare yourself for any eventuality because who knows what mood Mom and Dad are going to be in when they get home. This creates a state of constant fear, fight-or-flight mode, keeping the sympathetic nervous system on high alert all the time. As you grow into adulthood, you begin having issues with mental health, anxiety, weight gain and other inexplicable symptoms that the doctors now tell you are “all in your head”. Your government tells you that you must listen to their rules or else. Your whole life is one big fear-filled ‘Not Truth’.
Now imagine that your reality is one where your thoughts are nurtured, at least on some level. You are encouraged to be a leader, not a follower. You are taught respect and autonomy for yourself and others. You know what healthy boundaries look like. You learn how to think for yourself by choosing alternative education paths – someone I know has an MA in Critical Thinking! You are encouraged to get in touch with your passions and live from this place. You don’t believe everything you hear in the media. You see the corruption and hypocrisy in all levels of government and beyond.
Or you could be scenario one with the stirrings of scenario two in your Soul (aka ‘fence sitting’). You could be half asleep, half in fear, half exasperated with everything. You are likely in victim-mode with moments of empowerment that come shining through.
BRING ON THE PANDEMIC!
With the understanding that right now, no one really knows the Truth of what’s happening, put yourself into each scenario. Try to imagine what this person’s life is like. Try to understand why they would react the way they do.
Scenario one has lived in fear their entire lives. They know nothing different and will follow the fear. The programming is that deep. Although we know they are sinking the ship and taking us with them, we really must have compassion for them. If everything that came into your existence was filtered through fear, wouldn’t you be afraid? If you were told that your thoughts were not valid, they didn’t exist, you would learn to look outside of yourself for the answers and the Truth. This may help explain why some of these folks are so rabid about calling in license plates, calling the police on those that “aren’t following the rules.” They were taught from a young age that you have only to choices; either conform or experience loss.
Scenario two is a free thinker. They have learned that fear is a combination of two things – excitement and an absence of love. They are looking at all scenarios and discerning the Truth for themselves, as they see it. Each person who is discerning for themselves sees the circumstances slightly differently and agree to disagree, respecting others’ opinions.
Scenario three often doesn’t know what to think. They are awake enough to see that something is wrong, and asleep enough to not question. Other people’s approval matters to them. They are in that twilight sleep where, if the correct information is provided, the lights go on. It’s always about dripping the more enlightened thought processes on these folks. The drips eventually find that crack in the armor and quickly creates a deluge.
With these thoughts in mind, is it so difficult to see that maybe none of us know the Truth? Maybe neither narrative is correct. Maybe both are. We only know what we have been allowed to see. George Orwell’s ‘1984’ was not designed to be used as an instruction manual, and yet, here we are. Thought police, censorship, arrests. This suppressing of the Truth, this whitewashing of history, the scrubbing of information from the internet, the silencing of humans who dare to speak out is going to have catastrophic consequences that we cannot yet see.
I think it’s time for all of us to slow down, dig deep, find our humanity and begin to forgive – those that are committing crimes against us, those that have or are going to abandon us, those events in our pasts that are creating today’s filters – so that we can find the love and compassion we need to heal the rift in humanity. The Truth exists within all of Us. It’s up to us to find that Truth, speak to it with love and compassion, and stop fueling the fire of ‘Not Truth’.
By: Extremely American Journalist & Canadian Contributor Wende Fahey