To Thine Own Self Be True - a podcast by David K Payne

We are all products of world systems that are based on power, control, comparison, blame and evading responsibility. We look for the shortest routes to success and comfort, and in the process, we make ourselves vulnerable to every person with a good personality and persuasive words. We make commitments to things we know are not right for us. We pretend to be what we are not resulting in seasons of times in our lives that only produce misery and unrest. We continue to do the same things day after day, expecting a different result, exasperated that nothing ever changes for us. At some point, we must stop lying to ourselves and begin to face the truth of our lives. The revelation is sometimes startling as we realize that we have lived parts or almost all of our lives for the approval of others when it is at our discretion to make decisions that would radically change our realities.

 “Above all, don't lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having no respect he ceases to love.” 
― Fyodor Dostoevsky,

As the quote above points out, a life that is lived with one lying to themselves ends in an implosion of self that leaves us devastated and struggling to survive. My encouragement to you is to begin to pay attention to the voice inside you that is crying out for change. Peck in “The Road Less Traveled” talks about the healthiness of depression, noting that our unconscious man is many times aware of the need for change long before our conscious man is ready to acknowledge it. The result of not facing the things in our lives that need to change is a sense of depression. Begin to pay attention to the subtle feelings of uneasiness and begin to do things differently.

On my view, one of the greatest things we can change is the habit we have of lying to ourselves. We lie believing that things will just get better on their own. We lie to ourselves excusing destructive behaviors and blaming others for why we are where we are. We lie to ourselves believing that everyone else is worthy of success, blessing, and love, but we are not. When we continue to believe that the commitments, practices, and habits we now participate in, that have not produced peace, joy, and love in our lives, we run the risk of developing a level of cynicism that will leave us hopeless and loveless. We begin to lose faith in people around us and eventually in ourselves and even God. I pray a change starts in you today. May this be the day that you begin to love yourself enough to believe what God says about you and trust that God’s spirit can lead you into abundant life. Today is a good day to begin to be true to yourself.

Just BE

David

Further episodes of "the DKP Word"

Further podcasts by David K Payne

Website of David K Payne