When The Truth Won’t Leave You Alone

Sometimes I’m reminded that I shouldn’t quit my day job.

The ceiling looked great. It hadn’t been painted in many years and until I rolled on the fresh coat of paint I didn’t realize how dingy and dull the ceiling had become. Painting the ceiling was the final step of a weekend project which took far more weekends to complete than I expected. But it was done.

Until it wasn’t.

A previous “weekend project” involved replacing some of the rotting trim boards that were original to the house. Apparently while fixing the trim boards I had unknowingly dislodged a few shingles in the process. A brief but intense wind-driven rain passed through our area and, like water always does, the water found its way through those dislodged shingles and into the house staining my freshly painted living room ceiling.

As a handyman homeowner I’ve come to appreciated the persistent nature of water. If there is a way for water to get into a space it always seems to find a way to do so. Water is quite good at getting my attention.

And so is the Truth.

The Truth, as in the acceptance of the reality of certain situations I’ve gotten quite good at repressing.

Like water, the Truth is very persistent. Like water, it’s also quite good at getting my attention, often showing up in the forms of frustration and disappointment, of unwanted outcomes and unmet expectations, often prompting me to confront those repressed realities no matter how uncomfortable they may be to accept. Or, I can opt for avoidance and tell myself I’ll tend to these realities when it’s somehow more convenient to do so. Even though I know there will never be an ideal or convenient time to do so.

There is a comfort in complacency which can keep us from diving deeper into that which we work to avoid. Avoidance is a powerful mind game, and I can be rather proficient in playing such a game.

No matter the mental games I play, the Truth isn’t going to go away.

The Truth will politely tap us on the shoulder, then nudge us, and will eventually shove us repeatedly to get our attention. The more we resist, the more intense and frequent the reminders will become.

The Truth doesn’t demand we take any action. Its job is to get our attention in hopes that we do take care of what we know needs to be taken care of.   

And if we choose not to, we should know that more reminders will be heading our way.

The Truth can be uncomfortable, even inconvenient. 

But it’s not going to go away.

Photo by Pascal Salewski on Unsplash