YOUR TRUTH NEEDS NO DEFENSE

Friends,

Today, I caught myself reading about the war in Ukraine and weeping…

I wept not just about this war. I wept for all our wars– born of misunderstandings and mis-communication.  I wept from the hopelessness and sadness I feel about this particular time in our human evolution. 

I am okay with feeling these feelings. 

Feeling hopeless does not negate the possibility of change.  For me hopelessness is the product of the memory of my desire for change–for something new. 

It is my desire, being born.

These days I have a careful vigilance around my emotional life. We are in an environment of mis-information, where the need for money, to be right and have power over others too often shapes one’s truth away from what we know is possible. 

The wars we wage with each other and ourselves, are rooted in our instinct to survive, at any cost. 

I know survival well.  

When I turned 60, 3 years ago it seemed as though all hell broke loose. Significant friendships ended, my relationship with my partner at the time fell apart, my best friend died, and then COVID hit. All my inner resilience became unmoored.  

How was I to survive? 

It’s been a journey to find a new center of balance, and it’s an ongoing one. 

Still yet, I can pause now to reflect on the lessons so far — to appreciate them and the circumstances and people who taught them.

Here is my big lesson -- one that I commit to practicing:

There is nothing wrong with my truth. My truth stands equally with the truth of others, and gains veracity when it is spoken with compassion to myself and others. 

All our truths are a complex of our intention, our feelings, desires and needs. To the extent to which we are unaware, our truths control us.  This is especially true, when our only intention is to survive. 

Yet no one can, or will survive. 

For me now, the question is, “how will I live?”

Today as we RISE, here is an exercise to help each of us locate our truth and speak it clearly and compassionately.

Think of a place in your life, where you are not feeling rooted – it might be in a relationship, an environment, a job, or an exchange. 

First let’s notice together what you are feeling. 

Are you feeling…

… unheard or confused?

… hopeless or stuck?

… invisible or worthless?

… abandoned or betrayed?

…. excluded or not safe?

… sad?

… angry?

… rage-full?

Next let’s notice together what needs these feelings reveal.

Do you need….

… to be heard or to hear?

… to be allowed to experiment and change?

… to be seen and valued?

… to be felt deeply and touched?

… to be included as an equal and treated fairly? 

Take a look at your answers. 

Might this be your truth?  

If so, can you accept it?

It needs no defense. 

Imagine that your truth stands equally with the truth of others and gains its veracity when spoken with compassion to yourself and others. 

Once you have accepted your truth – your feelings and your needs— what intention can you set that frees yourself and others? What action can you take to communicate your feelings responsibly, and then ask for what you need?  Is it possible to give yourself what you need?

Today, let us together keep the high watch and  greet our fears at the door of our heart as our deepest desires, being born.  

Finally this…

When you know and accept your truth, in a state of war, what will you choose to live for?

For me, I choose to live for peace and freedom. I intend to live speaking my truth with compassion for myself and all others. 

I hope you will join me in this.

InBLOOM Always,

Olubode