johndhowell.com

Part 2 of 5

In the last couple of months I’ve been really trying to explore what truth is, how to recognize it, how to live it, how to speak it, and what to do when confronted by it. My purpose in this blog series is to simply share my thoughts on truth and how the encounters I have had with truth have changed me.  I hope you’ll enjoy and add your two cents to the discussion.

So my next big question about truth is if this is what truth is – how do I begin to recognize truth in my everyday life? One thing that I’m fully aware of is each reader of this blog will bring his or her own perceptions and beliefs into this discussion. For me to simply spout out a list of sorts of how to recognize truth in our everyday lives I would either have to have a full and complete understanding of every person’s life story or I’d have to be arrogant enough to assume that I know the truth well enough that I can relate it to each reader.

Unfortunately, I don’t know each reader’s story nor am I arrogant enough to assume. Instead, what I’d like to do is share with you a few ways that I am able to recognize truth in my daily life. Hopefully you will gain an insight into my thought process and find ways that you can recognize truth in your daily life.

• When I recognize that my words and lifestyle are consistent with each person I encounter – I recognize truth.
• When I ask sincere questions and receive answers that I can apply to areas outside of the immediate circumstances – I recognize truth.
• When I read a thought or a process and it stirs me to the principles to my life and instills a desire to share it with others – I recognize truth.
• When I find that I am able to dig out a cancerous and destructive behavior in my life because I reach a better understanding about that behavior – I recognize truth.
• When I am able to confront others behavior in a loving and compassionate manner – I recognize truth.
• When I’m able to trade an option that I’ve always had in my life for a better option – I recognize truth.
• When I hear or read something that just doesn’t fit with what the world tells me is right – I recognize truth.

In retrospect, I see that I have created not just a list, but rather a pattern of behavior designed to assist me in recognizing truth on a regular basis. As with the idea of understanding what truth is, my understanding of how to recognize truth in daily life is not complete or perfect by any means, but it’s clear that it’s a pattern of behavior that once started on leads to other behavior patterns and changes that enable me to begin living truthfully. So – that’s my thoughts, how do you recognize truth?