Truth has everything to do with facts and reality. Sometimes it is hard to tell the truth because truth is something that is strong and once it is said, can never be taken back. Growing up, my parents were always engraving in the heads of my siblings and myself to always tell the truth. My mom would always say, "I will be more upset with you if I find out you are lying about something and less upset if you just tell me truth." Back then, truth always had to do with whether or not I did or did not do something. Now, being older truth means that and much more. Truth to me not only has to do with facts and the reality of what happened, but also with beliefs.
I am not a person who easily opens up to people, and it takes a lot for me to put my trust in someone. This is because of one particular relationship, where I believe I learned a lot about myself and what I believe to be true. "Beware of the half truth. You may have gotten hold of the wrong half," (unknown source) is something I grew to believe in this relationship. The half truth is all around, and you either believe it, or you don't. But once, and if you come to believe that half truth, there's no turning back, because "whatever satisfies the soul is truth," (Walt Whitman). When I was being told the half truth in this relationship, I was being told things that I wanted to hear, things that made my soul satisfied. But somehow, the truth always comes out in the end. It comes to the point where you realize the truth that was partially told was the wrong part you needed to know, and the only reason you believed it was because that person said exactly what you wanted to hear. And the funny thing is, you might realize that all along, you knew the whole truth, but chose to believe the half truth instead.
When I read the truth quotes, these two stood out to me because they are a big part of what makes me who I am now. I keep these thoughts in my head always, to make sure that I do not let myself trust people as easily as I did before. I try to remember that just because what I hear satisfies my soul, doesn't necessarily mean it is true. The half truth only satisfies my soul because I let it, and I allowed myself to only hear the things I wanted to hear. Telling the half truth is just as bad as telling a lie because that person who tells the half truth, knows the whole truth will hurt. I am glad I was raised with the idea that telling the truth, even it hurts someone, is better than telling a lie, which will hurt more in the end.
Dear Amber,
ReplyDeleteI read your truth blog and I really think you had some good points. You were very insightful about the quotes and how they acted as lessons in your life. When you spoke about your relationship I found myself reminiscing about my own experiences as well. What really caught my eye was when you said “ Truth is something that is strong and once it’s been said it can never be taken back.” I have been in situations where I felt under a lot of pressure and consequently blurted out the truth. It wasn’t the pain that I felt from blurting out the truth but the way that I had said it which made me feel as if the truth was bad. The room was so quiet that my words were like a knife cutting through the tension. Once I had said it there was no going back. The truth will prevail. I learned that the truth is bitter sweet because it can lead to events that could possibly change your life in un expected ways.
More so, when you were talking about how there are two types of truth, the whole and half I felt you really made me think. You said, “…person said exactly what I wanted to hear…funny thing is I knew the truth the whole time but I chose to believe the other half.” Why do we choose to only believe what we want to hear? Even when we know the truth we lead ourselves to believe the other half. I know that people say that we have to learn from our experiences, but why would we put ourselves through the pain and agony? If we already know the end result why do we make the act of living out the lies? It makes me think that even if we know the truth will hurt us why we continue to make ourselves vulnerable. We would rather feel that way than not know at all? Your experience in your relationship really helped me evaluate myself and my life. I have found a new appreciation and respect for the word “truth.”