The Confused Truth

The truth can be confusing.

Because although we like to see the truth as something concrete and objective, the truth of truth is that in many cases it is subjective.  What you may feel is your truth, I may not feel is my truth.

Why is this?  I believe it comes from the variety in our cultures, upbringings and experiences.  How we see the truth, politically, economically, socially, may differ immensely from our neighbors.  Our opinions and biases come into play – coloring our spectacles.

Certainly there are universal truths that most of us embrace – like that of murder being bad (not including terrorist organizations or the criminally insane, which is a whole different discussion) – but in general, there are those basic beliefs/truths that we understand to be held by most human beings walking the planet.  We tend to equate truth with being rock-solid, unbending, unwavering.  It makes us feel better to think this way.

I’ve been watching a number of videos this week, in which experts discuss their research and conclusions on various topics about understanding the science of thriving. As the positive psychology movement has been highlighting lately, science can indeed measure and explain our humanness (if you will)…and our unending desires for happiness, love and fulfillment.

As I’ve watched these videos, and read material on the subject matter (tons of it), I have two responses – the first being that I’m awed and excited by the information – by the learning and understanding of what it means to be human; my second response is a slight nagging feeling of confusion…of not being sure what, or who, to believe.

The reason is this – every expert, scientist, researcher, author, speaker, coach – you name it – has a slant that arises from their research and viewpoint.  So what’s happening, as I’m experiencing it, is a sort of opposition, a conflict, in which one expert touts one way to do things and another touts a different way.  Thus creating what I’m calling the confused truth.

Who do I believe?  Which study do I weigh more heavily?  Which plan do I follow?

A great example of this is the diet industry.  Every week a new diet is making headlines.  Each one reports to be the best, the easiest, the most successful.  And we buy into it as evidenced in the multi-billion dollar industry its become.  We want someone to tell us what to do, quickly and easily.  We believe that if it’s being reported then somehow it must be true.  And the truth is some of it is valid and some of it isn’t…and often it’s hard to discern the difference.

Which leads to a heck of a lot of confusion and frustration.  Even as I’m doing my own research, and studying human psychology (as it fascinates me so), I find I don’t know what to believe completely.  There are so many guides out there on how to live better, work more efficiently, be happier, achieve greatness, that it’s enough to make my head spin.  I know there have been a number of times that after reading some “lofty” material, I need to just turn on my TV and veg out for a few minutes…giving my brain some space to chill.  Getting anxious reading a book about anxiety is probably not what the author had in mind – but it probably happens a lot more than one expects.

My goal with Buddha Balboa is to dig through the plethora of information and form it into an understanding I can share – in the hopes that it can help us navigate this life we’ve been given.  I don’t pretend to have the answers or even “the truth” of matters.  What I do have is a desire…to understand myself, to understand why and how we think like we do, and to live an imperfect life that I can be content with.

In the pursuit of your truth, a little confusion can go a long way. – BB