October 14, 2012

Speak your truth, even if your voice shakes, your knees buckle, and the earth trembles beneath you. You will be okay. In fact you will be better than okay. Stand by your principles, and the truth will set you free. How? You will like yourself much more this way, and your confidence will show. You will be freed from taking responsibility for other peoples’ reactions, free from needing to be liked, free to expand your mind and life in every direction. Maybe best of all, authenticity creates its own momentum and pretty soon your voice stops shaking and your knees stop knocking and all you hear from the earth is her quiet encouragement to “keep going”.

Sure, there are costs to speaking your truth. And sure, there are more and less effective ways of speaking your mind. But if you do it skillfully and for the right reasons, and let go of controlling the outcomes, the truth will catapult you into a life of blue sky freedom.

It’s one of the best known phrases in the Bible and the motto for many schools, “The truth will set you free.” The ancient Greek word for truth is alétheia. It means “not hidden” or beyond appearance. It’s the word that most closely corresponds to modern phrases, coming out, living authentically, and expressing yourself.

This sort of truth is less about being right in any technical or absolute sense and more about being authentic and transparent. It’s about revealing the essential nature of who you are. Take for example the recent debates in America. Who was more effective; Obama or Biden? Even though they both used similar talking points, and many of the same facts, most people found Biden more powerful. More of Biden’s life experience and passion came through, even though he came across as belligerent at some points. You can forgive an awful lot of belligerence for the sake of passion. You can’t make up for a lack of passion with even the most careful crafted argument.

more…