What Does "Living Your Truth" Even Mean?

It seems in the last few years, people have talked more and more about “living their truth.” But, what does that even mean?

When you were a young child you lived much more authentically. Maybe this time even came during an experience, like a backpacking trip, in your adulthood. At this time you knew what you loved to do, you knew what you wanted, and you felt a sense of peace without the pressure of ‘adulting.” This period ended at different times for all of us, but let us be in agreement that at one time you were able to be your true self.

Over time as we learn from our families and other communities like school, religion or the media we conform from that true self to someone different. We all do. This new version of yourself, let's call them your culturally appropriate self, believes that you must do things you don't love doing, that you can't have that which you desire, and that stress is a normal part of life.

Some of us accept this as the way life is and others of us wonder if there isn't more to living. Sure, for the most part our lives are fine, but we sense that something is “off” and that there is a different way to live that would be more personally fulfilling. We are called back to the desire of loving what we do, having our needs met, and a more prominent sense of freedom and peace in our lives.

If you relate to this group that feels that life could be better, you are likely remembering a part of you that has always been there, your truth or your nature. In the yogic tradition, when you live in accordance with nature to fulfill a unique purpose in this life, it is called dharma. Author, Martha Beck in her book The Way of Integrity calls this orientation living in integrity. She likens the term to the inanimate object of an airplane. When a plane has structural integrity, it will fly with ease. When the plane does not have structural integrity during a flight, there are serious issues. We get to choose which one we are aboard.

Your truth, cares nothing about the things that culture has told you is right. Culture's influence is unconscious for many of us as it is learned. Culture and its ways are very persuasive and distracting. To make culture even more insidious, know that most of the planet is caught tightly in its grip.

And look where our world is.

While it may seem selfish to pursue a life based on your true self, it’s more true that those that align life with it are actually doing a great service to this world. The more people that can break through cultural conditioning the better off we will all be.

Take a moment to reflect upon your own life as an educator to get more insights:

• As an educator, in your particular role, do you feel aligned to your true self? In what ways?

• Do you ever feel stuck in a box? Explain.

• Do you ever feel like a servant to a routine and workload that doesn't fill your cup in return?

• Do you feel you are working with your nature or against it? What does that feel like?

We would love to hear your responses to these questions in the comments!

If you would like some guidance on how to reconcile these two forces (your true nature v. your culturally appropriate self) within you, keep following along with our content and consider signing up for our online book club where we will read Martha Beck's book, The Way of Integrity starting late January together.