Your Truth =/ Another Person's Truth

Hey guys,

How are you? I hope you’re doing okay. Sending all of the love and light from my heart to you.

We often tend to not express our true selves when in social gatherings because we’re conscious of the impression we’ll give people. But when we find ourselves in gatherings where everyone is expressing themselves, we are able to open up better.

I’m prioritizing expressing myself regardless of the vibe other people in my environment are giving off. As long as we’re not hurting someone or being inappropriate, we should express our true selves more. That’s living to me.

Stay expressive. Stay Jiggy.

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As of 10:05 am on Sunday, July 4th, there were 7.876 billion people in the world. This is a massive number.

All these people. Spread across the world. Many never leaving their countries or only ever getting to visit some parts of the world. When you think about it, what each of these people understands as 'life' in different parts of the world will be so far apart.

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A kid that grows up in Australia and lives there all her life experiences something entirely different from a kid that grows up in Kazakhstan. They each go through an average of 60 - 80 years of their life that is so different from each other.

Diversity is the very crux of humans.

I grew up with 4 siblings. We lived together in the same environments for 14 - 16+ years. Yet, our personalities, beliefs and aspirations are very different. If a small and closely-knit family can have such diversity, how much more people from different regions who grew up with their own unique experiences.

Each human experiences a unique life. No two are ever the same. Finding two humans that are the same is probably one of the few things in the world that is truly IMPOSSIBLE.

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Despite all of this, I have observed that it is often hard to understand why something we feel so strongly about is not as relevant to someone else.

For instance, Diosa is big on gifts. She treasures them when she receives them and is very intentional about the gifts she gets for people. On the other hand, I'm not so bothered. I appreciate gifts if I receive them but I don't expect them. When I give gifts, I don't care much about what the person does with them.

This difference in approach to gifts could be linked to our background, experience when growing up or something else.

This holds true for many other things in life. Our religious beliefs, our approach to risk, our aspirations and many more. What is truth for someone might not make sense to another.

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It is however very easy to feel strongly about our truth and invalidate the other person's beliefs/opinions. Because we do not understand it, we conclude that it doesn't make sense or that the person is less smart than us since they don't understand our opinion and many more.

However, understanding that because something is truth to you doesn't make a different opinion a lie or wrong is important.

It's important for coexisting. For building relationships. For staying open-minded to new beliefs, information and approaches to life. For empathizing with people.

How are we going to learn new things or gain new experiences if we're only looking for people that'll only reinforce our existing opinions and beliefs?

Even if we do not agree with someone else's opinion/belief, it doesn't mean it's wrong. The same way you feel so strongly about your belief is the same way they feel about theirs.

I've also learnt that understanding other people's beliefs and getting a better sense of why they believe what they believe is also a better path to introducing them to your belief. They can then decide based on facts available to them if it's something they want to explore.

If they decide not to explore it, they are not lesser human beings. You might not be better off than them. They just have a different truth. That truth might change later and it might not. But it doesn't make it a lie.

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That said. Something I like to say about truths that you guys have probably heard before is that our truth is usually based on our environment and experiences. It might actually not be the best truth or the truth your soul longs for and aligns with.

Many of our truths were instilled in us by our parents and influential figures in our lives. In many instances, it was their own truth. Someone else's truth doesn't have to be yours. Be open to evaluating your truth and making an informed decision based on your current stage in life.

There are 7.86 billion people with different truths. Diversity and difference is the norm, not the outlier.

What did you think of this week's letter?

I love it! ◌ I Like It ◌ Not Bad ◌ I Don’t Like It ◌It’s Awful

Musing in Your Head

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What do you think about the invalidation of people’s truths? In what ways can we be more conscious of this in our daily lives.

This letter was written while listening to Icebox by Omarion.

Diversity is the very crux of humans.

Love always,

Francis.