What makes us, human beings, more powerful than other species on Earth? Perhaps it is our large brain, the ability to walk upright, imagination and the fact that we can communicate using language. So if all of us are equipped with the above attributes, what really makes us variably powerful within the human community?
The recent uprisings in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia shook up powerful dictatorial regimes that held forth for decades before citizens lost faith and took over power. So perhaps we could add Faith to the list of what makes humans powerful. Belief would then be equally important, or as I've come to see it - Personal Truth.
But how is Belief a Truth – isn’t that like saying ‘same difference’?
I turn to the dictionary. Faith is defined as ‘belief that is not based on proof’, Belief as ‘an opinion or conviction’ and Truth as ‘reality or as a thing exists’.
We hold Truth in high esteem, real things being more admired and loved than fake things. The ‘real deal’, as we refer to something worth our attention, love, money and time.
So where do Personal Truths fit in?
We all have beliefs. About people, experiences, ideology and objects. We trade them freely and confidently in the form of advice, opinion, orders and in conversation. They are clearly not casual thoughts to us. We believe them to be true – “Honestly, people with grey eyes cannot be trusted”, “I am ugly”, “War is the best way to get peace in the Middle East”, “I am going crazy”, “I will never fall in love”, “I am not worth anything”, “I am the best”, “All actors sleep around” … these and many other such statements have become undeniable truths for us – our Personal Truths.
We value our Personal Truths as they help us navigate life; which is possibly why the shattering of one is similar to losing faith in someone we believed in. Sometimes, we berate ourselves and lose trust in our future judgements. Sometimes, we see it as a sign of growing wiser and make peace with it.
We share many Personal Truths with fellow humans and create communities of mutual understanding; as is evident in Clubs, Gangs or on Facebook as Groups or the many Likes seen on Pages like ‘Delhi is the best city in the world’.
The Truth we choose to believe can guide us to do good, to be neutral or to do harm; to ourselves and to others. Great power that brings great responsibility.
A person with no Personal Truths is like a ghost, unreal and probably impossible to find. But that, of course, could be my Personal Truth. Smile.
2 comments:
Does "Aspiration" sit between "Personal truths" and "Beliefs"? Or perhaps is a belief?
It stems from both of them in measures which is individual to each person. Writing something on this in a few days. smile.
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