The Tip of the Day
9/24/18 Naked Truth
I heard a story yesterday that, in a good way, really hit home with me. I have recreated the story the best that I can with a little twist of my own.
This story hit home with me because all my life I have felt like an outcast of sorts. Like I didn't fit in anywhere. I found myself trying to people please by being who ever I thought would be more accepted at that time. I often lied to myself and this inauthentic person was hard to keep up with and I would always find myself cutting off the people around me I felt at the end of the day just wouldn't get me, accept me or even work on understanding.
The story I am going to tell is about the Truth and the Lie and it goes something like this.
One sunny day two siblings were out running through the town and enjoying the warmth on their face. These siblings were identical twins and even their own mother had a hard time telling them apart. What usually gave away their identity was that the one sibling named Truth always stood tall with the very same posture when ever being questioned and the other sibling Lie would kick the dirt and come up with different stories trying to please the one asking.
On this warm and lovely day the two siblings came to a river bend.
Lie challenged Truth to a swimming contest, claiming to be able to swim across the river faster than Truth. Lie laid out the rules to the challenge stating that they both must remove all their clothes and at the count of 3, dive in to the glistening water and swim to the other side and back. Lie counted to 3, but when Truth jumped in, Lie did not. As Truth swam across the river, Lie put on Truth’s clothes and walked back into town dressed as Truth.
He proudly paraded around town pretending to be Truth. Truth made it back to shore, but his clothes were gone and he was left naked with only Lie’s clothes to wear. Refusing to dress up as Lie, Truth walked back to town naked. People stared and glared as naked Truth walked through town. Truth tried to explain what happened and that standing before them was in fact Truth, but because Truth was naked and uncomfortable to look at, people mocked and shunned Truth; refusing to believe. The people in town chose to believe Lie because he was dressed appropriately and easier to look at. From that day until this, people have come to believe a lie rather than believe in the naked truth.
Standing in your authentic and honest self will at times mean that you will feel lonely. There will be times where you will want to give in and be someone or something you are not just to feel companionship/ friendship. Just know that if you can learn to love you for you and embrace the naked truth you will find your tribe (people who not only talk but do the walk) Others who are connected to themselves the same way no matter what it looks like.
You are not alone. Chances are that with the 330 million + people inhabiting this Nation there is more of you out there than you may think. Get to know yourself and you WILL know who they are a lot sooner than months or years.
“Change what you can not accept about yourself. Accept what you can not change and have the Courage to know the difference between the two and stand in your truth”