I am a co-author in an anthology being released August 25th titled, Speaking Your Truth: Courageous Stories from Inspiring Women. Here is a blog entry I wrote about what it means to me to speak my truth:
Speaking my truth means that I share honestly and openly what is in my heart…what I think and believe and how I feel. In order to speak my truth, I need to be honest with myself first. Is what I am about to say coming from my heart, from a place of love, from the center of who I am? Or, am I speaking from fear or anger? Are my words an emotional response to pain from my past? When speaking my truth, I always want to center myself in the present moment and in love.
Sometimes it can be scary to speak my truth, as I fear being judged and rejected. But, more often than not, when I risk being know, I feel liberated. Sharing my truth with others heals me and frees them to share the truth of who they are in turn. I love what Marianne Williamson wrote in A Return to Love, “And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
Many of us have been conditioned to please others. Unfortunately, this pattern has caused us to hold back from speaking our truth and from being all that we were meant to be. To step more fully into our authentic power, we need to stop playing it safe. We need to stop hiding our brilliance and allow our light to shine. As we do, we will feel more alive inside, and our brilliance will radiate out, causing a ripple effect, expanding love and light everywhere!
What does it mean to you to speak your truth?
(For more information about this book, check out: speakingyourtruth.wordpress.com and facebook.com/speakingyourtruth)