Arbiter of Truth

When you find yourself
relentlessly trying
to explain yourself to someone,
stop for a moment
and ask yourself
why you’re doing that.
Are you trying to make them
understand your choices
or agree with your opinions
because,
deep down,
you don’t trust your own
opinions and choices?
Do you need the green light from them
before you can give yourself the green light?
If so,
stop letting them be
the arbiter of your truth.
Tirelessly trying
to make someone understand you
is abdicating your responsibility
to define the credibility of your own
decisions, life experiences, and/or beliefs.
And no one
is more qualified than you
to make those calls.

Adventures in Meditation III

“An inner voice always used to be an outer voice.” –The School of Life
___________________________________________________________

One day,
I summon the courage
to ask my inner critic
a question:
“why are you so mean to me all the time?”
I ask it with curiosity,
acceptance,
and non-defensiveness.
My inner critic
breaks down crying.
“Because everyone else was so mean to me,”
it replies.

Suddenly, I realize
that the perpetrator in me
and the victim in me
are just the hard and soft manifestations
of the same pain.

_______________________

Other poems in this series:
Adventures in Meditation 1: https://wordpress.com/post/musings-and-music.com/1529
Adventures in Meditation 2: https://wordpress.com/post/musings-and-music.com/1722