Authentic Happiness Comes From Speaking Your Truth

The power of speech generates order from chaos.

Lies don’t travel far. I had to learn this the hard way. In second grade, my school class used to sit in a circle and told each other where we had spent our vacation. Most kids had been to exotic places like Spain, France, or Greece. I, however, stayed at home. I felt embarrassed about that— so I lied. I claimed that my whole family visited Australia, went surfing, and hung out with kangaroos and koalas. To my astonishment, my teacher believed me. My peers were fascinated, and I became the star of the hour.

Several weeks later, my mother went to the parent’s evening. As she entered the room, my teacher, full of expectation, asked her “did you enjoy your trip to Australia?”

The 3 Levels of Truth

What does the process of telling the truth look like?

1. Don’t lie 2. Speak the truth 3. Speak your truth

Speaking the truth is sticking to actual facts and adhering to reality as much as possible.

Speaking your own truth, however, is subjective. It’s a strange yet expanding feeling inside your body. It can’t be explained, but you just know it’s true.

In this article, I’m referring to all 3 levels of telling the truth.

Living a Meaningful Life

Truth is the foundation of a meaningful life— it’s simple as that. It’s your shield against tyranny and evilness. It serves as a crucial micro-habit that keeps your life in order.

Dr. Jordan Peterson puts it like that:

“Your capacity for speech is divine, it’s the power that generates order from chaos. Don’t underestimate the power of truth“ — Dr. Jordan Peterson

The power of truth isn’t an esoteric construct. Actually, it’s more rooted in the laws of physics.

Telling the truth aligns your thoughts, feelings, and actions with reality. That’s a good starting point to interact with the world in a rational and respectful way. When the truth is the cornerstone of your life, you’ll have a stable network of truthful friends and a good reputation on which you can build your career around.

If you respect reality, reality will respect you back.

On the other hand, the more you lie, the more corruption will enter your life. When you lie, you’re telling the world that it’s ok to lie back to you. That’s the beginning of a vicious circle of chaos and suffering.

Rapid Self-Improvement

Lying makes us weak. It takes away confidence because it creates a false reality that needs to be protected against the world. That’s extremely stressful.

Notorious liars will eventually resign and stay inside the false reality they’ve created for themselves. The lies they’ve told the world and even to themselves will keep them small, which eventually leads to procrastination and apathy. That makes personal growth almost impossible.

Besides that, lying takes away a lot of mental capacity because previous statements need to be double-checked constantly. It is proven that lying releases stress hormones and increases blood pressure.

Telling the truth is a powerful self-improvement hack. It’s an effective yet underrated method that stretches your comfort zone every single day. When you speak your truth, you’re forced to face your fears. You’ll confront the world with your inner reality — there’s nothing scarier than that. But at the same time, it makes you a much stronger and more resilient human being.

The Risk of Staying Silent

Telling the truth can be risky at times, sure.

Withholding the truth, however, has its very own risks, too. Human beings neglect the negative consequences of remaining silent. Letting things happen without interfering is dangerous.

An extreme example would be Germany during the Holocaust. It’s not that Germans didn’t know they were involved in evil crimes. Most of them were just too afraid to speak up.

Every time you suppress your own truth, you’re losing a tiny part of yourself. Slowly but steadily, the world will change you and steal the essence of your being.

Living a Real Adventure

Express your truth. It makes your life exciting:

“If you want an adventure, tell the truth” — Dr. Jordan Peterson

By telling the truth, adventure becomes a constant aspect of your daily life.

I don’t know about you, but when I’m sharing my truth with the world, my body is shivering by excitement. I feel the adrenaline flowing through my veins.

Takeaway

Telling the truth leads to order, stability, adventure, and genuine happiness.

Every time you tell your truth, you’re encouraging your sub-consciousness by saying:

“No matter what I think, feel, or say, it’s totally ok. I’m perfectly fine with living with the consequences, good or bad”.

There’s no time to lose.

Start small, and don’t lie.

Grow, and speak the truth.

Be genuinely happy, and live your truth.

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