"I began to tell the truth unflinchingly. If I said that
something would happen, you could bet that it would - you could bet
everything you owned. When you start to tell the truth, you begin to
look at your offhand remarks, and to examine every single one of them.
You begin to notice the lack of fit between the word and the object.
You begin to realize that you almost never tell the truth exactly. And
you realize that anything less than the truth is a lie: you can not
'pretty much' tell the truth. To 'pretty much' tell the truth is to
lie."
Look with me, and let's finally confront this completely for what it
is: when we "... tell the truth unflinchingly" about what's
going on in our lives ie about whatever we're dealing with that
matters
to us, it's not merely because our morality says telling the truth is
"the right / the good thing to do". It's that while we're fully living
our day-to-day lives and while we're practicing the
disciplines
on our
paths,
telling the truth unflinchingly is an entire
discipline
distinct in and of itself, a complete
path
to all
paths
(if you will). Even more than being just one more
intersection
to explore along the way ie even more than being just one more thing to
try out to see if it will make our lives work better like wielding
another implement to test its heft and efficacy, we could say that
telling the truth unflinchingly is arguably the entire
way.
Definition
unflinchingly
adverb
from the adjective
unflinching
not frightened of or not trying to avoid something dangerous or
unpleasant
<unquote>
As the context for any inquiry I immerse myself in, I've started to
question how I can shift anything in my life ie how I can
impact, alter, transform, or make a difference in anything that
matters
to me unless I'm willing to first tell the truth unflinchingly about
whatever it is I'm dealing with. Indeed, I can't come to grips with and
/ or understand anything that
matters
to me unless I hard focus first on what's so and not merely on what
justifies my actions ie not merely on what I like and / or on the way I
want it to be, and then tell the truth unflinchingly about all of it -
raw, unvarnished (and yes, "understand" is questionable at best but
here it'll do).
In my
relationships with people
for example, some areas work and some don't. And in the areas that
don't work, it's oh so easy to come up with a litany of complaints
about what they could do to fix or improve them. But it's
only when I tell the truth unflinchingly that I get to see
my role in their unworkability. Being
unflinching is a requirement, not because my contribution to their
unworkability is hidden from view but rather because the way I'm
thrown, my role in their unworkability is cleverly disguised /
justified as right and good. But in life there are no points for being
right and good. The only
worthwhile
points in life are for what works for everyone.
Choosing to impose on yourself the
discipline
of hard focus and telling
the truth unflinchingly are prerequisites if you're ever going to
pierce through merely being justifiably right and good, and get down to
what what actually works for everyone. It doesn't come easy. It does
however get more facile with practice. Don't flinch.
