How many times have your found yourself in a situation where you later regretted not speaking your truth?

For many of us, being taught from childhood not be “make waves” stifles our natural tendency to let our feelings be known. We avoid speaking our truth becuase we think it’s not in good taste.

So we let a situation take place which we are not happy with.

Then we spend time replaying the situation in our mind over and over again.

“I should have said this…or done that”. Then we have to face the consequences of not letting our true feelings be known, as the ramifications of the situation plays out in our lives.

Being present with your feelings takes practice.

Especially when you were raised to keep how you feel “close to your chest”. Holding back on how you really feel, because you may be concerned how other people will react to your feelings, is a self-made trap. You have a right to feel how you do and an obligation to express those feelings. To do less is to be dishonest with those you are dealing with.

You will always pay a price for your dishonestly even when you thought you were doing the right thing at the time. If you hold back on your feelings in a situation that has no bearing on your life, that’s one thing. But in a situation that affects you, all you are doing by holding back your feelings is setting yourself up for a lot of distraction later.

I’ve seen this scenario play out many times in family situations.

The activities of a certain family member, adversely impacts other family members but nobody draws attention to the issue. Yet everybody reacts and complains later, when they have to deal with the effects of those actions. If they would have only confronted the family member honestly, pointing out their true feelings on the matter, an enormous amount of stress can be avoided.

Learning how to be present with your truth is going to take some practice. It will result in one of the most powerful positive habits you can imagine.

Speaking your truth now, eliminates a lot of future emotional “baggage”.

-Bob Baran