There’s a great sense of freedom when you’ve discovered how to lovingly speak your truth, especially to family and friends who might push back.
Have you ever had a feeling that you should speak up about something but held back and then later regretted it? Or perhaps there was a time when you felt you should take different action and did not follow your inner guidance?
There have been so many times in my life when I knew, in my gut, that I needed to speak up or walk away from a situation but kept silent and paralyzed. The end result was not great and then I would say to myself “why didn’t I speak my truth?”
After speaking with a friend Susan today, she shared with me about her business trip to Florida. Although she loved being away, her gut kept telling her not to get on an airplane to return home Susan’s flight was then cancelled and it was just the sign she needed.
She marched herself over to the car rental counter and drove 13 hours blasting country music all the way home. Susan had a feeling that something was not right and could not bring herself to be on another airline flight during the pandemic. She honored her intuition without any judgement and got herself home safely.
Who knows if anything would have happened to Susan on that flight but needless to say, she learned to trust her gut.
I was recently in a situation where I needed to speak my truth about protecting my well-being and I kept silent. It resulted in a serious health scare. I found myself frightened to speak up for fear of being shamed. I learned something intensely valuable.
When it comes to your health and well-being, you are the only person who can truly advocate for your own safety. The crucial lesson here is to speak your truth lovingly and at the same time, to not be attached to what others may think or feel. Advocating for your own well-being is first and foremost. It means removing yourself from a situation that intuitively does not feel right to you or speaking up about what actions you are going to take to protect yourself.
It’s important to remember that you are not asking or expecting others to change their behavior or lifestyle, but rather you are simply honoring yourself and doing what your intuitive guidance is leading you towards.
I’ve also learned that what is “my truth”, might not be someone else’s truth. It’s all good…right??
We get to speak our truth lovingly with no expectations how others might react and no judgements about how others might have a different truth. Who are we to say what might be truth for someone else? We can only speak for ourselves and “stay in our own lane” as I frequently tell myself. “Stay in your lane Liz!”
If we are all learning to follow our own inner guidance and speak our truth, it’s good to do so without the expectations that we are doing so with a desired outcome for other people’s behaviors.
I know that in the past 2 years, we’ve all faced disagreements with loved ones or friends about what it feels like to speak your truth or how to self-care during this time. No one lives inside your body 24/7 the way you do. Each of us has a different idea of what self-care and self-love might look like.
Here’s what it comes down to: Trust your own guidance, speak your truth lovingly and act in accordance with that deep knowingness inside yourself.
Stay healthy and LOVE yourself!