Truth and Compassion

An essential conflict in becoming aware is: How do we tell the truth while being compassionate at the same time? How does the truth become helpful rather than just tolerable?

I have a wise friend who says that a measure of an organization's health and resiliency is to be able to ask the hard questions. This is especially true for families. What is so hard about asking: What's really occurring for me and what do I really feel about it? Does a difficult answer require making a choice? How does one ask these questions and stay true to kindness, especially if the answer is uncomfortable?

I made the effort to go through a juice fast this weekend and Monday. A truth that still comes forward is that I'm addicted to sugar. I crave all forms of the white powder and corn syrup. I crave and eat it even if it is detrimental to my mental functioning and physical well being. That's an uncomfortable truth that presents me with clearer choices. Fasting also brings up other habits into a spotlight. Like how I'm nice to a fault with the kids. How my default answer is Yes, almost as a knee jerk reaction.

I want to start with my own basic truths without working on another person. Yet there are aspects of my external family life that push me into primitive emotions concerning feelings of basic respect, safety and balance. How does one experience the "true" feedback from another person without going numb or reactive? How does one become a compassionate truthsayer in their internal life?

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