You Can't Change the Truth

"You can't change the truth."

Marianne Williamson spoke those words to me from her book, A Return to Love. (Well, she didn't speak them to me in my bedroom. I read them, but you get the point.)

You can't change the truth.

You can, however, hide the truth.

• Run from it.

• Ignore it.

• Kick it.

• Cry about it.

But you can't change it.

Truth just is.

Many people try to change the truth, and they waste moments, days, years, whole blocks of their lives wrestling with that which does not play. Truth always wins.

It might take some time to deal with the truth, or have it be seen. Truth is the original long game. (Deceit is a short game. If you want to play that one, you have to keep moving all the time. Lies run damn fast.)

But truth is a mofo. Addictive like opiates. Once you have a taste, you only want more.

And more.

So, in your moments of debate and darkness, when you struggle with which turn to take, which path to travel, which effort to make in a life that can feel so over-filled with effort like some merry-go-round that never stops yet you never ever seem to get anywhere – remember this:

The truth (as hard as it can be) is a path up. It's not a path down or even sideways. It goes up.

I know that's not much solace when difficult choices sit on your front porch – those things you don't want to face about yourself or your life or your work or those in your life that you hold but might have to let go a little bit. These are the times when it would be nice to run from the truth and back into the soft, warm embrace of unawareness. Snuggle up with your old pal Pretend and fall asleep again. I hear you.

But that's not really what you want, is it?

Because once truth starts whispering in your ear, it's hard not to listen.

So listen. Swallow hard. Sit with the truth, and make a plan. The path is starting to reveal itself.