90-Day A Better Me Series

Part II: A Journey of Perspective

What Launches Us Forward: The Stable Foundation

Day 43: Perspectives of Truth

“We do not see things as they are, we see things as we are.”

-Anais Nin

We all bring a unique perspective to this life. Certain beliefs are ingrained in our heads before we even know what is going on. Others are created through the experiences in our lives. No two perspectives are exactly alike. So the question is why do we get so upset when people don’t see the world exactly as we do? Why do we feel the need to throw judgment and blame all over the place? We are all here learning. We are all trying to find our way. We are all going to have learning experiences that take us through the trenches in some way or other. Each of us has a choice of how to interpret life. Why do we feel the need to insist on our own way? FEAR! Once we see our fight to be right out of  a place of darkness is us fighting fear with fear, we give ourselves space to see there are choices we can make that won’t cause us to spread our darkness.

The way I’ve learned to stay open and not close myself off is interpreting  my and other people’s beliefs as perspectives of truth. When I came to understand that what I believe is a perspective of truth, I became more open to see that there are other ways to look at things. Not only do I have the opportunity to change what I believe if it doesn’t work in my life, everyone gets that choice.

Seeing the world through perspectives of truth helped me understand that no one can be defined by a title. I call this the “ALL” dilemma. When we use titles to define a particular group of people, we stop seeing the individuals. We lump them into a set of belief systems that I guarantee you not ALL the individuals of the group have. No person can be defined by the titles they carry. We take away people’s humanity and individual perspectives when we define them in a group. We contribute to the darkness when we define individuals because of the groups they fall in. We close our minds to see them. We dim our own lights by our judgments. In order to make our light shine as bright as possible, we have to be willing to see beyond titles. We have to see the individuals in front of us, including the person looking back at us in the mirror.

When we choose to see ourselves and others beyond the titles, we see love (light) and fear (dark) clearly. By understanding that we are all seeing our lives through perspectives of truth helps us to gain more interest in understanding where people are coming from. Are their perspectives of truth being created by love or by fear?

We can hear the words of Martin Luther King Jr. and Adolf Hitler to know where each of them stood when it comes to being lead by love and fear. Hate (fear) encourages more hate. Love encourages more love.

Martin Luther King Jr. wasn’t spreading hate. He felt a love so deep for humanity that he made it his mission to help individuals see each other through eyes of love. Did everyone take his messages that way? Of course not, some people following him and/or who were inspired by him still had too much fear, pain, hate, judgment, in their hearts to hear the entire message, even Martin Luther King Jr. used words that for some triggered fearful actions instead of loving ones. Some people who were lost in their darkness defined him in a category of people and hated him just for that. MLK used words like “fight” which can confuse a message because that word can trigger people’s darkness. If we are aware of what is inside of us, we can differentiate that he was telling people to STAND UP for themselves and who they are as individuals who deserved to be treated equally. He wanted people to STAND UP for their worth, humanity, decency, and love. He wanted both sides to STAND UP. His perspectives of truth have inspired individuals on the path to be better for generations and his messages will continue to live on, yet just because individuals see him as an inspiration doesn’t mean they will have ALL the exact same perspectives of truth as he did. The love in him is recognized by the love in others. If we are inspired by messages of love, his perspectives of truth about love will stand out to us.

Adolf Hitler preached messages of fear, separation, judgment, blame, and entitlement. All of these messages are fueled by the darkness within an individual. This is a person who’s perspectives of truth led him to believe that the only way to overcome his fears were to eliminate the people he feared. He didn’t see individuals. He didn’t see humanity. He was lost in his internal belief systems run by fear. His messages will live on in people who attach to similar fearful messages of separation, entitlement, judgment, and separation. His messages live in individuals who can’t find their way out of their own fears so they have to blame people and/or groups around them. When we let our fears fuel the HATE for a group of people without investigating the individuals. We are following the darkness in ourselves. We will look at the people in our lives through dark glasses. We will be drawn to the darkness in others. We will lead or be led through perspectives of truth created by fears. As the quote from Anais Nin says up above, “We do not see things as they are, we see things as we are.” It is important to be clear on how we are choosing to view the world.

If we want to be led by perspectives of truth created by love, we need put our focus on individuals who inspire us to love more and be better. We have to be aware when people are trying to lead us by perspectives of truth created by fear. Individuals with healthy perspectives of truth do not feel the need to attack others or themselves. They are people who are inspired by the light within themselves to be the best individuals they can be. They choose perspectives of truth that light the way and can shine light in the dark corners. If we want to see how bright we can shine, we have to surround ourselves with as much light as we can. Searching out perspectives of truth is an AMAZING journey within itself. All we have to do is say we want it and the doors start opening.

Just for Today

Answer these questions: What perspectives of truth have you been following that create more fear in your life? What perspectives of truth have you been following that create more love in your life? Do you want to lead or be led by perspectives of truth created by fear or perspectives of truth created by love?

With Love and Gratitude,

Rachael Wolff © 2019

Read today’s Letter from A Better Me, 90-Day A Better Me Letters Series: Day 43 – Understanding Perspectives of Truth