TRUTH - PERCEPTION
The First Agreement (of “The Four Agreements” by Ruiz) is to “Be impeccable with your word.” We have been forever admonished to “tell the truth” or “the truth will set you free”. So why is it so hard to do? Because, the one that we lie to the most is the self.

The problem begins with birth. The esoteric discussion of whether we choose our point of birth aside, we arrive on the planet and no one asks us what language we want to speak, what religion we want to be raised in, what social customs we want to adopt, what prejudices we want to participate in, what foods we want to be accustomed to, etc. etc. We – without conscious thought – merely accept what is given us by our family, schools and peers. This package then begins to define who we are and what we believe. Occasionally, along life’s path one may question certain aspects of the package, but, for the most part, the package remains in tact. (The two most often examined ideals center around religion and politics.)

We spend a great deal of our lives “preaching” the “Gospel of My Beliefs”, trying to enroll others in seeing things our way. This is very important, because it solidifies the unconscious need to believe “I am right”. Particularly in the areas of religion and politics, it can become a source of extremely heated debate, with one adamantly “defending” one’s views. This is the source of all wars.

Whether it is religion, politics, socio-economic policies, what dress to wear/car to buy/place to leave, or any number of other topics, most do not ever stop to examine “why” the believe what they believe. Without such self scrutiny one can never truly know if that is your “truth” or just part of the package you picked up at birth. Without such scrutiny one then lazily puts on a pair of “perception glasses” through which the world is viewed. One can only then see what one wants to see or expects to see. Additionally, one becomes so invested in their own belief system they become closed to seeing in a different way because then their entire self identity may need to be examined. That being so, how can one then know if he/she speaks “the truth”.

An interesting example is a one room house. If you were to put someone at the front door and someone at the back door and ask each to describe what they see, you would get 2 different descriptions. Both would “swear” they were right and the other wrong. Both are merely seeing things from their own perspective. Both are “wrong”. Both are “right”.

Therefore, “defend” nothing….”attack” nothing.