Truth - The Beauty of the Heart

"In a world full of lies and deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act."
- Unknown

Have you noticed how surprised, sometimes even shocked, we feel when children tell it how it is?

'"to tell it how it is"

To speak bluntly, directly, and truthfully, even if what is being said is undesirable to the listener.

The most interesting thing is that we also feel amused as it is refreshing to us, adults, to witness such an unusual event. We might even feel grateful to that little man or woman for speaking the truth out loud.

For years, I have been asking myself the following questions:

Why do we make our children 'grow out of' being totally honest and frank?
What do we gain, in the long run, by being falsely polite and letting things continue as usual when a word of truth would set things right?
What are we afraid of when we avoid speaking out, and does that end up bringing about the results we hoped for?

We all know that in a long run it does not, and more often than not, it makes things worse, much worse.

“The simple step of a courageous individual is not to take part in the lie. "One word of truth outweighs the world.”
― Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn

So why do we keep doing it?

Are we afraid of the punishment?
Is it the fear of abandonment or of losing control?
Are we afraid that our popularity, social or professional status might suffer as a result?
Is it the lack of courage because we know that to really stand up for truth might put us in jail or even cost us our lives?

“To stand up for truth is nothing. For truth, you must sit in jail.”
― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Candle in the Wind

At what cost to ourselves, our loved ones and the rest of the world do we abandon telling the truth and allow the lies to live on unchallenged?
How does it erode our integrity and trustworthiness, and most importantly, what harm does it cause to our hearts?

As a kid, when I was caught lying, my late Mother used to tell me that the most ugly truth is better than a beautiful lie. I did not understand it then, but now I get it.

By bringing the truth to light, we illuminate the darkness.

I have since learned that we become skilled at finding reasons to justify our lies. The most "beautiful" of the lies are those we tell ourselves in order to justify lying as a means to not hurting the feelings of others, or doing good for others.

“It is in the nature of the human being to seek a justification for his actions.”
― Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago, 1918-1956

I also learned that each time we stay silent in the face of a lie, or any injustice for that matter, we lose a piece of our beautiful hearts and die a little on the inside. In the end, we end up brokenhearted, walking like zombies with bodies still alive, but with hearts on life support ready to pop at any moment.

Our heart is rooted in the Universal Source. It is the fountain of beauty and all that is good and true, and it needs to stay open.

Only truth, however ugly and painful, can liberate us from inner and outer deceit of any kind, as it cuts through the lies like a scalpel and speaks directly to the heart. It opens the door to understanding, rights the wrongs and ultimately results in healing, and that is what makes it truly beautiful.

What do you know? Mom was right after all. ;)

“You can resolve to live your life with integrity. Let your credo be this: Let the lie come into the world, let it even triumph. But not through me.”
― Alexandr Solzhenitsyn