True Colors

I've streamlined my life greatly over the past four or so years. I've had to. Between marriage, moving to the suburbs, divorce, marriage-ish, three start-ups, two mortgages, one child and one on the way and one cold, hard foray into adulthood (of which I went kicking and screaming—on the inside), I realized there's no time to sugar coat, no time to twist the truth for what I perceived as the sake of sparing others (who do I think I am to spare others? why did I think they needed sparing?), no time to be anything but who I am.

For a while, I had to fight my instinct to not tell the truth—be it about myself, my life or some rather insignificant situation. It astounded me that truth telling wasn't always my knee-jerk reaction. My man was the one who would point out that the truth is the way to go. Forget white lies to spare people's feelings or obvious omissions to avoid consequences; just tell the truth. Simple. Easy. He'd remind me that if your life is governed by honorable actions and honest intent, then there's never a reason to feel like your truth is not okay. If someone can't handle your truth, that's their problem. If you act from kindness, consideration, grace and empathy, then you can rest assured knowing that your intentions are pure and it's not your lot in life to make others understand from where you are coming. All you have to do is honor your word—to yourself and others—and you'll never have to slide around the truth or overcompensate with some gratuitous excuse again.

For a good three or so years, I have been living in truth—to myself and to others—for the very most part. I cannot begin to tell you how much more time and energy (actual physical and mental energy) I have regained. Just following through on my word, not being afraid to show who I am and dealing from my own truth have given me wings to soar and a real happiness that I had not previously known.

So, next time you go to fudge an excuse or hold back on expressing yourself or mask your inner thoughts and desires, remember: the truth shall set you free.

From today's Daily Conscious Tune Up:

Most of us aren’t 100% real. We are too afraid to show our true colors, to unfurl the flag of our true thoughts and emotions. We think people would run away screaming if they saw what we really looked like. Or we think they would fire us, drop us, hate us, judge us, tell others, or worse if we spoke from the heart.

Life is too short to waste it being fake.

Today, find the true grit needed to be who you are. Say what’s on your mind. Let your true face speak. The more you accept who you are – and share it with others – the less energy you will need to spend on hiding.