Is This the Truth?

Do you find yourself wondering why people perceive you in a certain light? Why am I so slow? Or possibly why you perceive your co-worker or neighbor in a negative or positive light? Sometimes this happens as a result of someone telling you that co-worker is lazy or irresponsible. Does this illustrate a recent event or the entirety of all of their lives?

Statements such as the above are ‘labels’ carrying heavy judgment with them. The judgment part can be good or very cruel. Let’s consider children responding to their parent’s public statements of, “You are brilliant”! The child takes this statement to be true, accepts it for themselves and makes terrific progress in school. How do you prove brilliance? Let’s review another label that can be interpreted as true, but cruel, when you hear something similar to, “All teenagers are bad drivers!” This label implies an internal belief structure and if heard in public can be assumed to be true. Is this really true? We see on the nightly news stories of teens in community service driving Elders to doctor’s appointments, all without incident. Labels or generalizations can be applied by the public at large, even by us. Sadly, these statements are heard, embodied, and lived as truth.

If you have ‘labeled’ yourself or others, examine them for what they are, truth or labels, with these questions:

• How are the internal beliefs you hold for yourself serving you for the good now?
• What can you do to change any of these beliefs about yourself or others in this coming year?
• If you think you can’t change them, how will you achieve any of your untapped goals, possibly a new career, a move to a better climate, even pursue family plans?
• Can you walk into the future by carrying the labels of the past on yourself?
• And, are these past labels affecting your image or even your health now?
“Strength does not come from physical capacity, but from an indomitable will.”
Mohandas Gandhi