Life and Truth

By Nancy Rynes, author of Awakenings from the Light 
I've been writing a bit about knowing your truth, but how does that manifest itself in our everyday lives?
While hearing and heeding the voice of your inner truth can bring you much-needed sparkle and creativity, you still have to live within the physical, mundane world. So how does knowing and living our truth play a part in our daily lives? When we bring the truth to most (or all) of our interactions, it can mean clearer communication and less drama. There's a bit of a catch, though, when we share our truth with others. Not everyone will like what we have to say! Your mother might not enjoy hearing that you don't want to come to the annual family reunion this year. Your father might take it the wrong way when you explain that you are dropping out of law school to pursue a career as an interior designer. It takes practice, tact, and a bit of courage to speak your truth to someone you care about. Choose kindness and compassion, but be careful too! It might not be the best career move to tell your boss exactly what we think about his or her management style. Some truths are best kept to yourself. If you do need to be honest with someone, I've found it's a bit easier on both me and the recipient to make it all about me. "I'm sorry Mom, I've had a rough week at work and it would be best if I just skipped the reunion this year to stay home and rest." But maybe a compromise option is what would work best. Acknowledge your own truth, but also honor the fact that your family would like you to participate in the event. "I'm sorry Mom, I've had a rough week at work and I'm exhausted. I can only stay at the family reunion for a couple of hours this year." Can you tell I'm a middle child? I'm always looking for a good compromise position :-) Living our truth doesn't mean we do only those things we like. Life isn't all about "me me me." There are over 7 billion other humans on this planet and some of them, such as our children, may depend on us for their survival. We all have responsibilities to ourselves and others but the result of knowing your truth is leaning how to make informed, appropriate decisions while still honoring who we are at heart. As adults, we do have to live in this world and do things we don't exactly enjoy such as:
* pay taxes
* go to the doctor
* go to school to earn a degree
* find and acquire food
* earn an income

It's a matter of priorities. I actually detest going shopping for groceries. Hate it. But I need to eat and I enjoy eating good, healthy food because it keeps me healthy. So I suck it up once a week to visit the farmers' market, local farm stand, or a natural foods store. When I visit the farmer's market or farm stand, I make it fun by taking the opportunity to talk with the local farmers.

We can do things we don't enjoy while still living in harmony with the incredible soul-map inside each one of us. 
Here's another example. Let's assume that in your heart, you truly love being a musician but you have a child and want her to live in a safe part of the city. And a safe part of the city means higher housing costs. Even though you're gifted and belong to a band that shows a lot of promise, right now the money from the music gigs isn't enough to pay the bills. You do have a lot of options available to you in this situation but given that you value your child's safety first and your musical dreams second, you decide that it's OK to take a part-time job working in a medical office. Doing this allows you keep your child safe and let go of some financial stress, while you and your band work on expanding your audience.
Our children are particularly vulnerable to having their inner truths overrun by peers, bullies, gangs, school teachers, the media, the culture, and overbearing but well-meaning family members. It's up to us as parents to nurture our kids through this time as much as possible. Honor your child's individuality while keeping him or her safe. Teach your kids that it's OK to be different. Love and support them as they mature, even if you don't agree with their choice of career or partner. And above all, when it's time, learn to step back and enjoy the  independent, confident young adult who is now ready to take on the world!

Once we are more easily able to access that inner truth, the gates of creativity, peace, and joy can more fully open.
Blessings and joy to all of you.

Nancy

PS: As you can tell, truth is a very complicated topic and can be difficult to pull apart. If you are having trouble with recognizing and living your inner truth, or sharing it with others in a constructive way, seek a life coach, counselor, or psychotherapist for help.

Awakening to Life

July 30, 2-3 PM, Orlando, Florida: at the International Association for Near Death Studies National Conference (IANDS).
For more information or to register, see: http://conference.iands.org
My talk at IANDS, and many others, will also be live-streamed and available via video. This is a super option if you cannot attend in person but still want to learn from the wisdom and near-death experiences. For more information, visit:
Posted by Nancy Rynes, author of Awakenings from the Light ( http://NancyRynes.com )
All content copyright Nancy Rynes, 2015-2016
Bio: Nancy Rynes is a speaker, artist, and author of Awakenings from the Light (available from Amazon.com). Nancy's books and workshops teach you how to bring a little bit of Heaven to your life on Earth. She lives near Boulder, Colorado. Check out her website: NancyRynes.com