How to Tell the Truth, Episode 56
Here's week 56 of Turning Towards Life, a weekly live 30 minute conversation hosted by thirdspace coaching in which Justin Wise and Lizzie Winn dive deep into big questions of human living.
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This week we take up truth telling, which turns out to be a deep and rich subject. In our conversation we explore what it is to work against our own habits and preferences - always the move that makes development possible - and what it is to listen, deeply, even when we don't want to. And we talk together about the life-giving possibilities of listening as if we're wrong, even when we think we're right.
How To Tell the Truth
When you just have to talk,
try being silent.
When you feel reluctant to say anything,
make the effort
to put what you’re feeling into words.
This is a place to begin.
Pushing gently
against the current
of your own impulses
is an effective technique
for dislodging
and discovering
your truth.
How to tell the truth?
Taste it
and remember the taste in your heart.
Risk it
from the bottom of your love.
Take the risk
of telling the truth
about what you’re feeling.
Take the risk
of telling your loved one
your secrets.It’s true
you might be misunderstood.
Look and see
if you’re willing to trust
yourselves
to misunderstand each other
and go on from there.
When someone speaks to you
and you feel yourself not wanting to hear it
try letting it in.
You don’t have to agree that they’re right.
Just take the risk
of listening as if they could possibly be speaking
some truth—and see what happens.
Listen as if.
Listen as if you can’t always tell
what the truth is.
Listen as if you might be wrong,
especially when you know you’re right.
Listen as if
you were willing to take the risk
of growing beyond
your righteousness.
Listen as if
love mattered.
– Paul Williams
Photo by Tim Wright on Unsplash