Do Not Run From The Truth

Look the truth in the eye, bravely, and your life keeps heading forward in a good direction.

Nearly everyone has held on to some fact they dreaded saying out loud, sure it would land badly. Just as often, we are the ones who cannot cope with a fact in front of us. Sometimes it is minor: ignoring the warning signs from the car because the repair bill scares us. Sometimes it is serious: refusing to admit that a person we love is slowly drifting away.

Why we look away

Most of the time the facts are plain enough, if we are willing to see them. Still, we come up with clever ways to keep them out of sight, however obvious they are. Fear, anger or plain helplessness is usually what makes us turn away. We tend to build our lives on a particular picture of how things are, and when that picture proves wrong, in whole or in part, it can feel as though the ground itself is shifting.

The truth always finds a way

Standing firm at such moments takes real strength, and many of us choose to hide instead. Yet hiding only works for a while. A truth that is ignored tends to come back, each time pressing harder until we cannot overlook it.

Since it cannot be dodged forever, however much it hurts, the earlier we drop our guard, the easier things become. Once we see clearly and accept that our lives may need to change to fit the facts, we are living in step with what is real.

Patience with others

We can also be gentle with those around us who are still struggling to see, because we remember how much it can hurt. Whatever the facts turn out to be, the aim is honest: to keep our eyes open, and to feel thankful that we are able to see them at all.