Saturday, March 16, 2013

What's YOUR One Simple Truth?

There is a theme, a personal TRUTH, that runs throughout our lives.
No matter how much we change and evolve, this TRUTH
is the thread that connects all of our days.

A few years ago when Oprah Winfrey started the OWN Network, she had a contest to search for new shows to feature so with the help of some friends, I made a video pitch for a show:  One Simple Truth.  The idea was to take every day people and have them share their One Simple Truth that guides their life and how they arrived at this. (You can see the video on my website under Media.)

While preparing to shoot the video, my late-husband, John and I were discussing our One Simple Truth.  He asked what I thought his was and without missing a beat, I said:  The rules do NOT fu#%ing apply!  He cracked up laughing, falling over himself as he nodded his head in agreement.

Not applying the rules served John well as he was a visionary with pioneering energy.  He had a sense of Self that was rare and truly could not bend to the expectations of others. He did things his way not out of rebellion or to piss off others (even though this was often the case) but because he wasn't wired to follow - he had his own trail to blaze.  The ingenuity that he came here to express wouldn't allow him to be otherwise. 

Admittedly, I tried like hell to police him at times which created countless comedic episodes.  We were meeting with a group of bankers to discuss a multi-million dollar deal and I asked him to at least wear business casual clothes.  He showed up in blue jeans, a T-shirt, his CAT baseball hat, work boots and just to show me who was the boss of him, he looked at me and smiled only to reveal he had Billy Bob teeth in.  

My One Simple Truth is  Don't Box Me In! as I am ever-changing, expressing my Self in unexpected ways, letting in the new that comes and this has been a constant throughout my life. The box contains and I can't be contained.  This way of being is knowing my Self but NOT knowing my Self so well that I box my Self in by an idea instead of allowing the spontaneity, the great surprise of who I am to be revealed in any given moment.

What's YOUR One Simple Truth?

Have fun with this exploration!  Greet this question with humor and delight.  Invite those who know you intimately to share their experience of you. 

What I see at this point in my life is how John and I had similar truths that played out uniquely.  He was actually a great teacher for me in his ability to stand in who he was without apology or shame.  Every time, I allowed my Self to be boxed in, life would suffocate me.  When John tried to follow the rules like wearing clothes that weren't him, he twitched like a 3 year old in church trying to be still.  When we go against who we are and don't learn to appreciate how we are wired, it clogs our sense of joy and vitality.

LIVE YOUR TRUTH!  (And learn to LOVE IT.)

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