This is one of those phrases most people have heard and may not know where it came from. When I went to seek out the source myself, I was reminded that it came from the New Testament and was a part of a scripture. Here the writer was saying that knowing Jesus would set you free. However, that is not how most people use it today. For example, in one of Oprah Winfrey’s life classes she used this to assist people in talking about how keeping secrets deeply hidden have impacted their life. Don Miguel Ruiz talks about the truth setting you free as the need to stop lying to one’s self and thus ending the suffering we create for ourselves.
People lie to us all the time, even when they are lying to us in love. However, what I have come to realize is that the person who lied to me the most in my life was me. Even now, there are moments when in find myself lying to myself. I then have to stop and tell myself the truth. For example, I used to tell myself all the time that I was stupid, ugly, and unattractive. I used to tell myself that I had nothing to contribute to the world and that nobody would want to hire me because I was a biracial overweight lesbian with a disability. I used to tell myself so many lies. I had lied to myself so much that I no longer realized I was even lying. I was in DENIAL. I once heard someone say that DENIAL was an acronym for Do Not Even Know I Am Lying. Denial was more then a river (not so good of a joke), but a way of being for me.
When I first began telling myself the truth, there was this voice in the back of my head that was trying to tell me that the truth was a lie. I had to keep telling myself that the voice I was hearing was too a lie and it just wanted me to keep on suffering and hating myself. So I kept on telling myself these truths until the voice in the back of my head went away. I stopped telling myself I was the stupidest woman I knew and began telling myself I was intelligent. I stopped telling myself I was ugly and unattractive and began agreeing with Mo’Nique that I was Pretty Hot and Tempting and I amJ. I stopped telling myself I had nothing to contribute to the world and began telling myself I am multi-gifted and have been blessed with a treasure of gifts to share with humanity. I stopped telling myself nobody would want to hire me and began telling myself it was time for me to share with others the abundance of talents and gifts I would bring to their organization. I made the decision to leave DENIAL and enter NIATT (now I am telling truth).
When I was living in DENIAL I was sad, depressed, and working hard to try to convince others and myself that I was happy. When I packed my bags, leaving DENIAL and the lies behind, I found a peace I did not know had existed. I found I was experiencing happiness, peace, joy, and contentment. I found I was no longer comparing myself to others and focusing on what I lacked or what they lacked to make myself feel better. I stopped lying about what I lacked. I stopped telling myself I had things to worry about. I stopped telling myself I had something to fear. I stopped telling myself things that kept me enslaved and living in DENIAL. Instead, I removed the shackles from my feet and began to dance on the amazing shores of NIATT where I remind myself I already have everything I need to do what I was created to do. I remind myself I have nothing to worry about. I remind myself I have nothing to fear.
Telling myself the truth has set me free in more ways then I can even begin to explain. The truth has set me free.