|
On...
Being Authentic and Telling the Truth
Authenticity is central to the idea of being in one’s own power and
being of service from that position. To be authentic you cannot let
other people dictate what you should think or believe or do. You need to
know yourself at the deepest level. This is essential because only then
can you know what you need to give, and know what others need as well.
Besides this, at your deepest level of being you have a truth detector –
a soul sense that tells you what is real and what is illusion, what is
true and what is not. Most people do not use this sense of knowing
because they do not trust it. Instead they trust more what others say is
real or true.
We live
in a world of communications – media of all sorts that reach around the
world, into our work places and into our living rooms and bedrooms.
People with agendas to serve, often self-serving, use these media to try
to convince as many people as possible to believe the ‘truth’ they are
presenting.
In recent
times there have been elections in which candidates for high offices
have held debates. The greatest influence of these debates has not been
directly to people’s minds, because people don’t pay enough attention or
use their own sense to understand sufficiently to make up their minds
about what they hear. That is part of the problem. The other part is
that politicians, like other people, do not always tell the truth, or
they distort the truth, and most people do not know what the facts are.
The result of all this is that people wait to make up their minds from
what the media presents. The media tells them who won the debate, who
was better, etc.
There are
two things we need to be aware of when listening to others telling what
they consider to be the truth:
1. The
spin. Facts are taken and presented with a specific spin, a specific
interpretation, to suit the one presenting them. The spin is determined
by the agendas, the motives, and the goals of those presenting them. So
the objective facts are seldom revealed as such.
2.
Perception Management. This is similar but more insidious than spin. It
is not just a manipulating of the facts, but a complete ignoring of the
facts. Perception management, for example, presents greed masquerading
as compassion and generosity; air pollution, water pollution and other
forms of corruption are packaged attractively as social benefits; making
war in order to establish peace, making up euphemisms like soft targets
and collateral damage to hide the hideousness of immoral behaviour
involving killing innocent people. Perception management involves
falsehood and deception, the purpose of which is to get others to
believe what one wishes them to believe, whatever the truth may be. It
is no wonder that it has been described as ‘information warfare’ since
the term was first used by the U.S. military. It is now widely used by
whomever has motivation to influence many and the means of doing so,
particularly through the media.
Always be
wary of the propaganda you are exposed to regardless of where it is
coming from. Always see through it to the motivations and heart of those
presenting it. If there is power or money at stake behind the messages,
you can be sure you are being exposed to spin and/or perception
management. Once you recognize this, and understand what is going on,
you can dismiss it and, if possible, identify the truth that is being
distorted or hidden.
At the
very least trust your heart, your soul, to know when someone is trying
to manipulate the truth. And then stand for the truth as you know it. Be
courageous and be authentic!
|
Exercises:
Make it a practice to examine at least one message a day that
comes to you from others directly or through the media. Ask
yourself to sense what the motivations are of the presenter, and
what truth or facts are involved. Ask yourself to what extent
the truth is being distorted or completely hidden. Then decide
what you want to do – accept, reject, or stand for something
else. |
Andrew and Bonnie Schneider are now offering personal interactive email
coaching for the 4 Level Soul Journey program. Connect weekly with
Andrew and Bonnie on how to develop soul consciousness. Read more about
this personal coaching from Andrew and Bonnie Schneider by
clicking here.
This is one of 150 Soul Perspective articles.
For more articles visit
Soul Perspectives
Index.

Andrew and Bonnie Schneider are now offering personal interactive email coaching for the 4 Level Soul Journey program. Connect weekly with Andrew and Bonnie on how to develop soul consciousness. Read more about this personal coaching from Andrew and Bonnie Schneider by clicking here.
|