Speak Your Truth—Even When It Scares You

Why bother speaking the truth in a world full of fake news? Because truth is the only measure of our authenticity expressed through our soul. To deny expressing it means hiding our authentic self behind a veil of falsehoods. Reflect on the times when you spoke your truth even if it hurt those you love. How did you feel? Did you notice a weight lifted off your shoulder, especially if you held back communicating something of importance? I have been in this situation many times where I thought speaking my truth would fall on deaf ears. I believed they would not receive it in the way I intended and so I held back.

Sometimes people are not ready to hear the truth and, although they listen, they’re only hearing what they want to hear. Do you get this impression? It can be difficult because your truth and my truth differs, and this causes conflict between two people, even amongst family members. I often laugh when someone begins a sentence by saying: “Do you want to know the truth?” What I’m really hearing is: “I’m about to tell you something which you’ll disagree with but here it is anyway.” The truth is subjective to our life’s experience, beliefs, values and opinions. It is why I am drawn to the passage by the author of Toltec wisdom Don Miguel Ruiz who writes in The Three Questions: How to Discover and Master the Power Within You of the enduring nature of the truth in our lives: “Life is truth, and it doesn’t need to be understood. Truth doesn’t need proof, or even faith, to survive. And it doesn’t need our stories. Truth existed before stories before humanity; and truth will continue after all the storytellers are gone. We don’t need a thought or a theory to show us the truth. Truth can be felt in our loving and in our enduring passion to live.”

We mustn’t withhold speaking our truth for fear it will upset others. If the truth is spoken from the heart and not the egoic mind, hopefully the other person will consider it with an open mind and heart. In an age of fake news, the truth is more important than ever. More people need to speak their truth from the heart for that is how we practice authentic communication. The heart is the seat of the soul and if aligned with our highest intent, it becomes a measure of connecting through a soulful presence. Is this something you’re willing to practice? Even though your voice will tremble when you speak the truth, it will be worth it coming from the heart. I have experienced holding back speaking my truth in front of audiences due to limiting thoughts: “How will people receive what I have to say?” “What if I disappoint them?” Nevertheless, I’ve come to appreciate how others receive me is not within my control. I can only communicate from my heart and remove any sense of fear, anger or hate and allow my words to come forth with love.

Our truth is the language of the soul and carries strength in its meaning and significance. I’m reminded of the biblical phrase: “The truth will set you free” which underscores how withholding our truth can destroy us. Communicating from the heart will lead to our greatest salvation and the freedom that accompanies it. As you read this, reflect on a situation now calling you to speak from the heart yet you may be afraid to do so. I trust by the end of the article you will have gained a sense of what action you need to take. I hope you choose your words wisely and listen to the whisper of your heart speaking in the song of love, not anger, nor hate or fear.

If we communicate through weakening emotions, we must turn our attention to ourselves to see where we are at war with. What part of us is calling to be nurtured? Because that is the part we most need to love. In doing so, the words we bring forth will arise from a place of spirited love and we needn’t worry whether speaking our truth will offend others. For when two people come together in this spirit of love, the language communicated is easily understood by their hearts without an agenda.