Follow The Truth...

Unique Perspectives: Follow The Truth...

By Kim Stevens

I’ve always been fascinated with the idea of The Truth. But how do I know what is Truth? Well, I follow what feels like Truth … for me. And in my world, Truth is always found wherever I find joy, in those things that make me happy. A Course in Miracles says: “Happy dreams come true, not because they are dreams but only because they

are happy.” Isn’t that fantastic?

I remember the first time I read A Course in Miracles, and let me tell you, as I was turning those pages I could actually feel The Truth in my body and I LOVED IT! Pure JOY! Each morning when I opened the book, I would wait in expectation of the feeling and, like expectant footsteps on my joyful road to Truth, it would always arrive.

One of the best lines from Conversations with God by Neale Walsch is this: “Feeling good is your way of telling yourself that your last thought was truth, that your last word was wisdom, that your last action was love.”

In so many spiritual, philosophical, ancient and non-ancient texts I’ve read, there’s this common thread that “joy is our birthright.” We are supposed to feel good and we are supposed to follow those things that make us feel joy-filled. Melanie Beckler says, “Let joy be your compass.”

Joy as a fundamental element of truth is so important to me because it seems like a lot of what society teaches us is that the hard way is the best way. Let me tell you, in my life I’ve had many, many hard ways, and I’ve learned to look back at them as gifts to strengthen me, but the idea that I can ONLY get where I’m going through suffering is a fallacy in my mind. It’s why I’m drawn to these joy-as-our-birthright perspectives and why much of what I read has to do with joy. Like Abraham-Hicks says, we’re supposed to feel good. Life is meant to be fun. There is nothing to feel guilty about. Things are supposed to be happy and delightful. Does that mean they are 100% of the time? No. But making life hard for hard’s sake is not the way I want to live or how I’ve learned to live.

So, when I read something that affirms my propensity for joy, my internal guidance system alerts me and I understand that to be Truth. My Truth. How do I know if an action or thought is True? Because, as Walsch says in Conversations with God, the highest thought is always the thought that contains joy, which means the road to truth, the road to MY TRUTH, is forever paved with joy. This is how I know which way to go!

Another book I absolutely love is The Afterlife of Billy Fingers by Annie Kagan. The story is about an addict who is hit by a car and dies. He comes back to visit his sister and tell her what the afterlife is like. “It’s like everything I hoped was true is true and even more magnificent than I’d imagined,” Billy says.

That is one of my favorite lines of all time because there are certain things I want to be true. I want it to be true that I can lead a magical life and that joy is the way I’m supposed to feel. I want it to be true that the road to Truth is paved with nothing but pure joy and happiness. I want it to be true that everything I hoped was true really is true … and that it’s even more magnificent than I could have ever imagined.