Just Be Curious

Awhile back I discovered a new Truth Tool that I used and then for some reason forgot all about. But it is a good one--Curiosity. I discovered it by watching how children deal with negative experiences. Children are naturally resilient and I realized that part of what makes them so resilient is their curiosity about life.

I love this Truth Tool and realize that I have used it on many occasions in my life without recognizing that it is a Truth Tool. Here’s how it works. When vexation starts to swell in you, instead of being sucked into the negative feelings get curious about them. An example will best explain how this works.

Let’s say you suddenly get bad news that your company is laying off 200 workers and you are one of them. Vexation! The negative feelings start to rise in you and the Should Sharks begin to attack. “What am I going to do? I’ve got bills to pay!” “This shouldn't t be happening. I’ve been a good employee for twenty years! I’m too old to find a new job.” “This isn’t fair!” “I always knew this company could care less about employees. All that matters to them are dollars.” These thoughts cause negative feelings to knot in the stomach and choke in the chest.

But then you remember the Truth Tools and pull out Curiosity and change the way you are thinking to things like:

“I wonder what lesson God wants me to learn from this.” 

“When God closes a window, He opens a door. I wonder what door will open for me now.” 

“I can’t wait to see what tender mercies will come my way to help me through this.” 

“I wonder how this is going to make me grow.”

 

In short, be curious instead of worrying and stay in the Realm of Truth.

A Taste of Love

Once again I am so excited to tell you what I am learning and experiencing from Living in Truth. As I explained the other day, I had an experience that a few years ago would have vexed me very, very much. But this week I recognized it as simply the truth of what had happened. It was nothing I could fix and so I had to live with it and to live with it I choose to just laugh at myself for being so stupid and the situation as being rather strange. It worked and I made it through without being vexed and without taking on any Unnecessary Pain.

But the exciting thing is what happened yesterday. I was simply walking along the sidewalk and an image of the person who had talked to me passed through my mind--no thoughts or feelings just her face, and as the image began to fade I suddenly was blessed with a powerful feeling of love for her. No, I take that back. It wasn't just powerful, it was overwhelming, warm, and extraordinarily beautiful feeling that I can't begin to explain to you, and now when I think of her I feel this same sense (but not as powerful) of love for her.

I know this was a gift from my Father in Heaven, and I know that if I had given in to the negative feelings and become vexed or vengeful or bitter or angry or in any way fallen into the Pit of Illusion, I would not have experienced that beautiful feeling.

I think I was given a taste of what the scriptures call charity or the "pure love of Christ."And that taste has made me hungry for more.

There are so many blessings to be discovered by Living in Truth!

Sick Hearts

In Proverbs I found a piece of advice that I like. It says, “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23). The Complete Jewish Bible translates that same verse as, “Above everything else, guard your heart; for it is the source of life's consequences.” And the NIV translates it, “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.”

This past few weeks as I fought off the flu and pneumonia all at the same time I had a lot of time to ponder and I began to think about what the world would be like if people spent as much time worrying and striving to keep their hearts healthy as they do about keeping their bodies healthy. When negative things like jealously, anger, resentment, grudges, or fear enter our hearts do we seek for ways to inoculate ourselves against them? Many of us stock up on cold and flu medicine at this time of year. But are we seeking out and storing up knowledge of how to rid ourselves of spiritual illnesses? When we feel negative things creeping into our hearts do we act immediately and fight off the negative emotions like we would fight off a headache, fever, or cough. Or do we sit back and say, “Well that’s part of life” And let it fester and grow?

Negative feelings are sickness to the heart. But the Truth Tools are medicine that heals the heart and keeps us living in Truth. It takes effort, but it is worth it. There is only bitterness to be had by drinking from the sickspring that is found in the Pit of Illusion. Instead, we can drink from the Wellspring of Living Waters and be filled with joy and peace.

More on Music

As I said yesterday, music is a powerful preventative Truth Tool. While listening to good music, you are encouraged and uplifted and better able to fend off vexation. But when vexing moments happen it can also help us to listen to music to help keep us calm. I had a delightful experience with this a few years ago. I had been to lunch with a friend I hadn’t seen for a long time and on the way home was running an errand. Here’s how my journal records what happened next:

I parked beautifully. No car damage. No problems. Got out of the car. Locked the car. Shut the door. Noticed that the car keys were dangling from the ignition. (In that order!)

Taking three long slow breaths I asked myself, what now? I could swear (which I'm unaccustomed to doing.) I could scream. (Which I have done on occasion.) Or I could walk home and get the extra set of keys. I opted for the latter and having my new Ipod in my purse, I put on some encouraging, up beat music to dispel the mood—the Beach Boys—and began marching homeward. I hadn't gotten far into "Surfin' USA" when I realized that my house key was also locked in the car. No matter. That music is very cheerful and so I hoped Josh was home to let me in. Then just into the catchy, "Be True to Your School" I realized that during the hustle and bustle of getting all the girls to airports and switching cars after Dad's funeral, my second set of car keys had been lost. But how sad can you be when you're listening to "Shish boom bah! Rah, Rah, Rah" sung in full harmony by males who were in their prime 40 years ago?

Since we were going to the temple tonight, I was very concerned that my heart not be polluted with things like anger and self pity—so I turned the music up louder, marched faster, and made it home in record time trusting that some miracle would happen.

“I got home. Josh wasn't there, but someone had left the back door unlocked! Miracle number one—accompanied by "Fun, Fun, Fun Till Daddy took the T bird Away."

“I found a Honda key in a drawer. Prayed it was to my car. And walked out just as our neighbor was backing out of his driveway. (Miracle number 2 accompanied to "The Girls on the Beach.”) I begged a ride, and out of politeness took the ear phones out of my ears. He took me to my car, waited while I found out the key was to Carl's Honda not mine, and then drove me back home.

“As soon as he left, I put the earphones on again. "Let Him Run Wild" was playing. Still calm and collected and surfing mentally, I called the car dealership where I bought my car and asked if they had any suggestions about getting into it. Miracle number three was accompanied by "Don't Worry Baby." It seems that they offer free roadside assistance to their customers. They would have their Knight in Shining Tow Truck there in 15 minutes to open my door.

“That gave me just enough time to walk back to the car—accompanied by the rousing tempos of "Help Me, Rhonda" and "All Summer Long." When I arrived, I discovered the Knight was late and the door wasn't yet open so what could I do but go into the nearest clothing store and shop to the music of "I Get Around." It was their clearance sale and I found a sweater, a pair of pants and a shirt all for less than fifty dollars! By the time I'd made my purchase the car door was open. I drove home, my heart pure and clean of any negative emotion thanks to the gift of portable music my family had given me.

P.S. The temple session was wonderful.

Truth Tool - Good Courage

When Moses left the Children of Israel and Joshua became the new leader, the Lord gave Joshua a charge:

“Have not I commanded thee? 

Be strong and of a good courage; 

be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: 

for the Lord thy God is with thee withersoever thou goest” 

(Joshua 1:9). 

I love this charge, which the Lord later gave to all the House of Israel, and since I am part of the House of Israel, I consider it my charge also.

But one day while I was contemplating this verse some things jumped out at me and hitting me over the head as if saying, “Look!” The first of thing that struck me was that this is not simply good advice, it is a commandment from the Lord. It is a command to not fear, and to not get discouraged. But even the command not to be fearful seemed strange. To me having courage meant to be brave and so did not being afraid. Why the redundancy? And why did the Lord find it necessary to define courage with the adjective good? Is there such a thing as bad courage?

It took me awhile, but I finally discovered that at the time the King James translators were translating the Bible the word courage meant “feelings and passions of the heart” and not bravery. Thus any emotion was courage, and so the Lord is charging Joshua (and us) to only have good feelings in our hearts.

But that presents a big problem. How can we go through our days with the media, other people saying and doing things and only let the good feelings into our hearts? Don’t bad feelings sometimes overpower us? The answer to that is in the last sentence. The reason we can do it is because the Lord is with us where ever we go or whatever we do. Despite the bad and evil in the world, we can cast it all away because we know there is a Savior who will eventually heal this world and all the righteous in it.

Understanding this charge to only let good feelings into your heart is a powerful Truth Tool. It can be used in time of vexation by simply repeating the words, or as a preventative Tool to recite every day in order to avoid vexation. I have rewritten the charge in modern English and put my own name in it. I have it laminated and carry it around in my wallet where I can refer to it any time vexation starts to overwhelm me. I also have it on a mirror that I see every morning. I have found that there is a power I can literally feel envelop me every time I simply recite the words out loud.

More On Vexing

The Vexed Man by Franz Xaver Messerschmidt

Almost everyone I've ever asked has had a similar thought come to them at one point in their life or another. It's about color, and the thought is that when you and I are looking at what is to me the color red do we see the same thing or is what you call blue red to me?

It is a strange thought, but one most of us contemplate and for a good reason. What the question is really about is, "Do we all experience the same reality?" Even if we all see the same red, the answer to the underlying question is a resounding, "NO!" We do not all experience the same reality. Each of us interprets and gives meaning to the things around us and that is what creates our reality.

So what does this have to do with vexation?

When we realize we are creating the reality we also realize we can change it. At first it is difficult because we are used to thinking that vexation is imposed upon us by the circumstances in our lives. But vexation isn't imposed it is created by the way we think about our circumstances. For example the vexing thought, "She is driving me crazy!" is an interpretation that is really, "I'm letting her drive me crazy!" The thought, "He shouldn't do that!" when analyzed in Truth becomes, "He did that so now what do I do? Fix it or live with it?"

Thus the first step to ridding ourselves of Unnecessary Pain is to admit that we are causing it, and then rejoicing in the fact that if we are causing it we also have the power to stop it.

Vexation

We've all had the experience of being in a traffic jam, or at a store in a long line waiting to check out and feeling an impatience that begins to churn into anger. "This should be taking so long!" or "Why does this happen on the days when I'm in such a hurry?" or other negative thoughts begin to cause us all kinds of vexation. Vexation is the warning. Vexation is to the spirit what a temperature is to the body. It means, "Something is wrong here."

Left unattended vexation causes more harm to the spirit, just as a fever left unattended can cause damage to the brain and body. Therefore we need to stop when we feel vexation and ask ourselves what is causing it.

For example in the long line as you begin to get upset because the clerk is taking so long, you ask, "Why am I feeling vexed?"

The answer, "Because the clerk is taking so long."

Then you ask, "Can I fix that or do I have to live with it?"

You can't fix it, so to escape Unnecessary Pain, you have to live with it. You take what comes and love it. And how do you do that? We'll be exploring the Truth Tools which help us deal with what comes, but one of the things you can do right then to help you calm down is to ask yourself what Should Shark is preying on you. What is it you think should be happening? The clerk should be faster. The store should have more check out lines. The manager should come help. What ever you are thinking is an expectation--a Should Shark--but it is not the reality or verity of what IS happening. It is not Truth. The only way to get rid of the vexation that is causing you pain, is to let go of the expectation and find a way to deal with the Truth.

You can stand in the line and be in pain, or you can let go of the expectation and stand in the line in peace. The choice is yours and it is that easy.

No Big Deal!

I've actually got time today to stop and enjoy the beautiful world around me!

I can't begin to tell you how much the "But Thanks" game helped me through yesterday. By the end of the day I was exhausted and I was in even more physical pain, but my heart was so full of goodness that the pain didn't matter because all day long I kept thinking about how much worse it could have been and how grateful I was that it wasn't worse.

This morning the doctor ordered X-Rays on the right ankle, but I haven't heard yet what the verdict is. I do know that it is swollen and bruised and that it hurts to bend it, "But Thanks" I can still walk on it when it is stabilized in a boot that comes up to my ankle.

Living in Truth really works. I am very happy today. I'm considering it a day off and doing some things I normally would not be able to enjoy. In other words, I'm looking at this as an opportunity! I know that six years ago, before I learned about Living in Truth, I would have been in the Pit of Illusion big time by today and so full of vexation I would be physically ill and unable to enjoy anything at all.

I LOVE Living in Truth!

Options

You all know that you can change shoes in a matter of seconds. If the shoes don't tie or buckle you can change them faster than you can say, "One shoe off, other shoe on!" What we don't stop to remind ourselves about often enough is that we can change our mind even faster than we can change our shoes.

This means that when we encounter a situation that is vexing us we have a choice: Change the situation or learn to like it. Too often we go through life feeling trapped without realizing we have options. You don't like the task ahead of you? You have options:
(1) Don't do it.
(2) Hire someone else to do it.
(3) Trade a task with someone else.
(4) Find a way to enjoy it.

Now, don't dismiss that last option too fast. It is surprising how many ways there are to turn an unpleasant task into a pleasant task. Once again there are options:
(1) Make doing it into a game.
(2) Change the negative chatter you are thinking into positive chatter.
(3) Find something good about the job and concentrate on that.
(4) Get someone to help you. Good company makes a lot of things easier.
(5) If possible listen to a good talk or story while you work. It makes the time go faster.

When Living in Truth you always have options!

The Vexing Truth

Vexation is a poison we inflict upon ourselves!

Two days ago I wrote about the beginning of school and the student who is teaching me lessons in Living in Truth. SuSu left a wonderful question. She said, "So not to encourage your vexation over said student; but do you ever just hope they drop your class since they bring their negative force into the room? Just wondering."

The simple answer to that is "Yes!" It would be nice. But the Truth is he hasn't dropped the class. What SuSu is getting at, however, is the question of whether hoping he goes away is Living in Truth or not. The answer to that brings up some very important nuances to what it means to Live in Truth.

First of all, thoughts of any kind sometimes pop into our heads uninvited. It isn't the thought itself that sends us into the Pit of Illusion. It is what we do with the thought. We can throw the thought out or we can swell on it. It is is a negative thought it will vex us. If the thought vexes us we need to ask, "Is this the truth?" In the case of my student, the simple truth is that he is bringing a negative influence into the classroom. The second question to ask is, "Can I fix it or do I need to live with it?"

In this case there are some options to fix the problem. Technically I could ask him to leave the class, but I don't think that is the right thing to do. I could say something very sarcastic to "put him in his place." But again that is not a good way to handle it. There are several other negative things I could do, but none of them seem right to me. But I can hope that on his own he decides to change classes as long as my hoping is a simple desire and doesn't  turn into fretting and or vexing. If the though crosses the line from being a simple desire and becomes a vexation that is creating vexing feelings, then I am in the Pit of Illusion.

Since the young man hasn't dropped the class my choice in this situation is to live with it and the way to live with it without vexing is to learn to love it. So I am working on thinking up all the possible ways I can to help him and to see him as God sees him. Yes, it takes effort, but the effort is worth it! It will keep me out of the Pit--a place I hate.

Why Vex Over Why?

I was talking with someone just this morning and the question came up, "Why does life have to be like this?" I don't think there is anyone reading this who hasn't at some time or another thought that very question. But if there is one thing I have learned about the Good News! it is that God, for some reason, doesn't often answer the Why question. He usually answers the How, What, Where and When questions but seldom the Why questions especially in the case of specific Whys.

Acknowledging this has caused me to pause on several occasions when I've been consumed with wondering WHY, and has allowed me to drop the vexation of wondering by just saying to myself, "Oh, that's a Why question and God doesn't answer those."

Now I realize there are exceptions to this, but mostly it holds true and when I remember it I am able to move on and drop the vexation a lot faster and with more ease. I don't know why, God isn't going to tell me, and so why vex over it? There another Why question, but this one I can answer! There's no reason to vex.

BYU Education Week Day Three

It is such a joy when people stop me and talk to me or come up after I speak to chat. I love the many interesting and beautiful people I've met this week. I especially love it as they tell me stories of their quest to Live in Truth and how it has changed them. I know how it has changed me and that is what makes the work and effort and time to do this so worth while.

Yesterday both the Living in Truth and the C. S. Lewis classes were over-flowing. I like that because it adds an energy to the room that benefits me and everyone participating. The preparation was a little frustrating and I had to apply a few Truth Tools because I got to my office and realized I had the wrong PowerPoint slides and so I had to start over and recreate them before my class and I realized I had left the Lewis books I was supposed to quote from at home. Mr. J kindly drove home to retrieve the books and in the end everything worked. Wow, am I thankful for what I've learned about Living in Truth. A few years ago a day like yesterday would have had me so vexed and sunk me so deep in the Pit of Illusion it would have taken a week to crawl out. But yesterday I arrived at my class with no residual negative feelings, unvexed and roaring to go.

Have I mentioned before how very much I love Living in Truth?!!!!!  :)

Out of the Pit

Living in Truth means living with what is, or in other words accepting the verities of life. The opposite is living in Illusion which is living with what is not, or in other words expecting life to be different than what it is. When we live in Illusion it always feels like we’ve falled into a Pit and thus I call it the Pit of Illusion. That deep, dark Pit has some symptoms that we should all be aware of because recognizing them helps us know we are inflicting pain upon ourselves. Remember, it is always possible to get out of the Pit and out of the pain. Falling into the Pit is a choice and therefore climbing out is also a choice. Therefore, the symptoms of the Pit are like a fever, they warn us that something needs to be done to cure the symptoms and change the course we are on.

Here are the symptoms:

(1) When in the Pit of Illusion there is no light. I’m not talking about visible light, but we feel darkness and all the negative, vexing feelings that go along with heavy, depressing darkness.

(2) When we are in the Pit we feel alone and separate from everyone around us. We feel friendless and unloved.

(3) When we are in the Pit negative emotions overwhelm us so that we feel helpless. It seems that nothing we do will help.

(4) When we are in the Pit we feel like God has abandoned us. The truth is that God always dwells and is found in Truth, therefore we are the ones who have removed ourselves from God. He is the God of Truth and so when we are in the Pit it makes it very difficult to hear and feel the promptings of His Spirit.

When we feel any or all of these symptoms it is time to pull out the Tool Box of Truth Tools and go to work. Remember, there is always a way out of the Pit of Illusion!

Enjoy Now!

I’ve been going through some life experiences lately that have confirmed and reaffirmed my conviction that Living in Truth not only makes life less painful, it makes life wonderful. The simple principles of living anchored to the present and not dragging the past into the present and of not sinking yourself in worry about the future are priceless. The value of the Truth Tools to help me avoid the Pit of Illusion, and especially the peace and joy that comes into the heart to reassure and empower us even in the darkest moments of our lives are beyond any words I have to describe them.


In conjunction with this, D3 called me the other day to tell me about a sign she had read. She couldn’t remember the exact words and I can’t remember her exact words but the gist of the sign (in my own words) was:

“If you want to be miserable, fret about the past.

If you want to be vexed, worry about the future.

If you want peace, live now.”

That works with little problems and big ones. So look around you. See, feel, touch, taste and listen to the present moment. Enjoy what is now!

What is Living in Truth?

Brigham Young once told the people, “When you are tempted, buffeted, and step out of the way inadvertently; when you are overtaken in a fault, or commit an overt act unthinkingly; when you are full of evil passion, and wish to yield to it, then stop and let the spirit, which God has put into your tabernacles, take the lead. If you do that, I will promise that you will overcome all evil, and obtain eternal lives. But many, very many, let the spirit yield to the body, and are overcome and destroyed” (Discourses of Brigham Young, selected and arranged by John A. Widtsoe, p.70).

Stopping the negative thinking is the first step to Living in Truth. At the first intimation that negative feelings (vexation!) are swelling inside you, use one of the Truth Tools to stop the anger, jealousy, stress, worry, fear, discouragement, or whatever the bad feeling. At that point don’t try to make it positive, just concentrate on going into neutral. Once you are in neutral you will be able to feel what you should do next. Follow those feelings and they will lead you out of the Pit of Illusion and into the Realm of Truth.

The problem comes when we give in to the negative feelings. Those negative feelings are always so overpowering, loud, and contagious that it becomes almost impossible to hear our own conscience or the Spirit while they are creating their noise. But when we quiet the negative feelings, we can hear and feel the Spirit and that Spirit will guide us true and lead us to peace and joy.

Learning From Jazz

Duke Ellington

I love change and variety. As a matter of fact, I NEED change and variety. If life becomes too stagnant I don’t do well. So (as I explained a couple of weeks ago) this semester I decided to take a class in something I love, but don’t know a whole lot about—jazz. I’m enjoying it very much and learning a lot which I expected. What I didn’t expect was how much it would teach me about Living in Truth.

Jazz grew out of the Blues and the Blues was music invented by Afro-Americans to help them cope with the degrading lives segregation had forced upon them. The words of Blues music are depressing and express all the unfair and terrible things that were going on. But the music is happy and encouraging. It is as if they were juxtaposing the worst of the world with the best of the world in order to instill and maintain hope. Music was a Truth Tool for them.

But there is more. This week I came across a quote from the great Duke Ellington, one of the finest jazz pianists of all time. An interviewer asked how he felt about the fact that the hotels his band played in wouldn’t let him rent a room to stay for the night. He answered, “I take the energy it would take to pout and use it to write Blues music.”

That sums up what Living in Truth is all about. Instead of pouting or vexing about all that is bad in our lives, we can spend our energy and center our thoughts on the positive and good. That’s happiness! That’s Living in Truth!

A Postive Side To Vexation

We’ve talked about vexation as the negative feelings that confront us when we leave the Realm of Truth and fall into the Pit of Illusion. Vexation always occurs then and we’ve discussed how when we feel that vexation we need to identify what is causing the vexation and then ask, “Can I fix it or do I need to live with it?” From there we’ve mainly talked about learning to live with it, but there are also cases when it can be fixed and even situations when those vexing feelings seem to be a call to do something to fix a situation.


When we see injustice in the world around us or experience life changing situations, it can be a call to do something. I have a friend whose grand daughter was killed by a drunk driver. She felt the necessary pain of the situation, and began to experience unnecessary pain. When she asked the question, “Can I fix it?”, the answer as to the death was no, but she could do something to try and make it so others didn’t have to go through what her family had gone through. She got very involved in Mother Against Drunk Driving and has done much good.

The answer to “Can I fix it?” may surprise us sometimes. To Live in Truth means you are open to those surprises.

We've Got Options

I once heard a psychologist explain that depression is caused when a person can only see two ways to go and he doesn’t like either one of them.  That may be an over-simplification, but there is something important here for all of us: there are always options. 

Too many times we come into a situation and only see one or two options open for us to pursue. If we don’t like either one, sometimes we need to accept what we don’t like and move on. But often there are other options if we just let our imaginations explore the situation. Many times there are options that aren’t as obvious that offer us new possibilities and great opportunities, but we have been so stuck in the rut of habit that we don’t even consider those options.

So next time you are feeling vexation because of choices you need to make, sit down with a piece of paper and write out all the options you can think of. Let your imagination soar. Some of the things you think of may be absolutely ridiculous, but write them down anyway. They’ll give you a good laugh and that is like taking medicine! Later go back through the list, consider each option carefully, and then choose the best one. Don’t look back, move forward in faith and then let the future unfold for you.

No Trouble

To begin the new year, I thought I'd review the prinicple of what it means to Live in Truth. So today let's start with John 14:1 where the Savior tells us to, “Let not your heart be troubled.” The Greek word that is translated troubled in this verse is tarasso. Tarasso means “to cause one inward commotion, take away his calmness of mind, disturb his equanimity; to disquiet, make restless; to stir up; to trouble: to strike one's spirit with fear and dread; to render anxious or distressed.” In other words, the Savior is telling us to not let life vex us. The first step to accomplishing this is to admit to ourselves that being vexed is a choice we make. Too often we think that thoughts and feelings are thrust upon us, and that we have no control over them. That would make us helpless victims. But the Good News! is that we can choose our thoughts and feelings. We are in control. 

In the scriptures the word heart is often used for the concept of feelings and in Proverbs I found a piece of advice I like. It says, “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23). The Complete Jewish Bible translates that same verse as, “Above everything else, guard your heart; for it is the source of life's consequences.” And the New International Version of the Bible translates it, “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” Between the three definitions we get a very good idea of what God is trying to teach us here.

The secret to happiness is to carefully choose the thoughts and feelings we let into our hearts and minds. It is possible to keep our hearts from being troubled! So if we feel vexation creeping in, the first thing to do is realize we have power to cast it away. We are not victims of feelings, we are agents that control the feelings. We can choose happiness!

The Truth Test

I don’t know how I have missed explaining the Truth Test all this time, but a kind reader who had heard me speak about Living in Truth e-mailed me the other day to say she couldn’t find the Truth Test in past posts. The Truth Test is crucial to Living in Truth, but somehow I guess I’ve never talked about it on Good News! So today I’m going to rectify that.

The Truth Test is a powerful Truth Tool that works on daily frustrations but is extra powerful in healing deep seated pain such as what comes from abuse and traumatic experiences. It works best if you actually write out all that you feel (explain all the pain) and then also write the answers to the questions. Just thinking through the answers can be helpful for daily vexation, but the power for healing long existing pain comes from getting the thoughts out of your head and onto paper. If you don’t want anyone to read what you write, burn it after you write it. But WRITE it. I’ll explain more tomorrow, but for today here is the Truth Test.

THE TRUTH TEST

(c) 2011 Sherrie Mills Johnson

I feel _____________________________________________(i.e. sad, angry, jealous, hurt, resentful, offended, fearful, etc.) because __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

1. What is my expectation? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. Is this expectation the truth and nothing but the truth in a mortal world? What is the truth? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. Is this necessary or unnecessary pain? ______________________________________________________________________________

4. How would I feel if I stopped expecting this? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

5. What is my heart (conscience, divine spirit, God) telling me to do right now? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________