The Three Truths

One of the podcasts I enjoy from time to time is Lewis Howes’ “School of Greatness”.  He puts out way more material than I can keep up with, but he hosts a lot of really interesting guests.  One question he likes to ask of his guests is one that I have thought a lot about ever since I heard it.  Here it is: “Imagine it’s your last day on earth, many years from now, and you’ve accomplished everything you’ve ever dreamed of.  For whatever reason, you have to take all of your content with you and no one has access to all of your information anymore.  But you get to leave behind three truths – three lessons that you want to leave with the world.  What would your three truths be?”

I do love questions that make me think.  I have changed my answers a few times because at least for me, it’s almost impossible to come up with only three.  But right here, right now, here are my three truths:

1.   Nothing matters more than relationship.  In my mind there are three types of relationships that are all paramount.  The first is our relationship to God. The second is our relationship with ourselves. And the third is our relationship to others: family, friends, neighbors, the barista at the coffee shop, the guy that changes the oil in my car, the clerk at the local grocery store. They all matter more than anything we own or all the stuff the world can provide. And they all have to be individually healthy for us to be healthy corporately.  

2.   Joy does not depend on circumstances.  Joy is not the same as happy. Joy is something deep down in our souls that cannot be wrecked by the hard things of life.  I think joy is a level of understanding and contentment that regardless of what happens in any given point in time, you can find joy in where you’ve been, what you’ve learned, the people you’ve known, the faith that you’ve grown. 

3.   We need to keep an open mind and never stop learning.  We may have heard that everything we needed to know we learned in kindergarten.  And when we were 19 we may have thought we knew more than everyone else, including our parents.  But I can tell you without question that at no age or stage do we know it all.  When we seek to learn, we may find our minds can change about some things we thought we knew for fact.  There is so much out there that we can’t possibly already know.  We need to keep reading and having conversations and looking for different takes on our beliefs that will grow us in a new way.  Not a single one of us is ever too old to learn something new as long as we are open to it. 

As a bonus, I’ll add one more thought that I debated was my number 3.  It is this:  Don’t always choose safe. Taking risks and trying new scary things can bring so much value to our lives. This year I chose to leave what I thought was safe and stepped out into the unknown.  So far it’s been quite a ride!  I am still unsure of where I'm headed, but I have not one regret.  

So what would you say are your three truths?  What could you share to make the world a better place?  I challenge you to think about them, write them down, revisit them, share them.  We all have something to contribute, so trust that your truths could be exactly what someone else needs to hear.