How do you know when something is true?
That may sound like a simple question, but in today’s world it has become surprisingly difficult to answer. Every day were bombarded with headlines, advertisements, opinions, social media posts, political rhetoric, and AI-generated content. Everyone claims to know “the truth.”
This question and newsletter started one morning as I was scrolling through an advertisement for the famous “Miracle Suit.” It’s promise? “Look 10 pounds lighter in 10 seconds.” Now, that’s quite a claim. The real miracle would be believing it. That simple advertisement sent my mind in an entirely different direction. It made me wonder…
When did exaggeration become more acceptable than honesty?
We live in a world where were constantly being sold something—not just products, but ideas, opinions, images, and carefully crafted versions of reality. Advertisers stretch the truth.
Politicians spin it. Corporations massage it. Social media filters it. Even well-meaning people sometimes reshape it to appear more successful, happier, younger, or more accomplished than they really feel.
The distortion of truth has become so commonplace that we’ve almost stopped noticing it.
There’s an old saying: “If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck…it’s probably a duck.”
Yet today, someone might insist it’s an eagle, another would call it a swan, and thousands would argue about it online. Somewhere along the way, we’ve lost something precious. We’ve lost the art of telling—and recognizing—the truth.
Perhaps we’re living in a modern version of The Emperor’s New Clothes, where many people see the illusion but are reluctant to speak honestly about what they know. But here’s the question that intrigues me most.
Why?
- Is it because the truth is uncomfortable?
- Is it because we’re afraid of offending someone?
- Or is it because the stories are simply easier to believe?
Psychologists have long known that the human brain isn’t naturally wired to seek truth—it is wired to seek certainty.
Truth has become a rare commodity in today’s world. But perhaps the place to begin restoring it isn’t in politics, the media, or advertising. Perhaps it begins much closer to home
We are drawn toward information that confirms what we already believe and often overlook evidence that challenges our assumptions. In other words, sometimes we don’t believe something because it’s true. We believe it because it’s familiar. And perhaps the greatest deception isn’t found in advertisements or headlines. On a more personal level…perhaps it’s found in the quiet conversations we have with ourselves.
“I’ll never be good enough.”
“I’m too old.”
“It’s too late.”
“No one understands me.”
“I’ll be happy when…”
These aren’t facts: They’re stories. Stories repeated so often they begin to feel like truth. One of my favorite teachers, family therapist Virginia Satir, believed that much of human suffering comes not from reality itself but from the meanings we assign to it.
What if many of the things we believe about ourselves are simply interpretations—not truths?
Imagine how your life would change if you questioned every limiting belief as carefully as you question a television commercial.
Finding Your Own Truth
This month, I invite you to become a gentle detective. Not of everyone else’s truth…But of your own.
When a thought creates fear, shame, or limitation, pause and ask yourself:
Is this absolutely true?
What evidence supports this belief?
What evidence challenges it?
Who would I be without this story?
Sometimes the most life-changing truth isn’t something new we discover. It’s something false we finally stop believing.
A Truth-Telling Exercise
Take a sheet of paper and draw a line down the middle.
On the left side, write:
The Story I’ve Been Telling Myself
On the right side, write:
A More Truthful Perspective
For example:
I’m too old to start over. → My experience is one of my greatest strengths.
- I’m not confident enough. → Confidence grows through action, not waiting.
- Nothing ever changes. → Small choices create remarkable transformations.
Notice how your body feels when you read each column.
“Truth isn’t always what we hear. Sometimes it’s what remains after we’ve questioned everything we believed.”
The truth doesn’t shout. It doesn’t manipulate. It doesn’t need a marketing campaign. It waits patiently…beneath the noise, beneath the fear, beneath the stories we’ve repeated for years. When we become quiet enough to hear it, truth doesn’t imprison us. It liberates us.
And perhaps that is the greatest miracle of all.
A Final Thought
Truth has become a rare commodity in today’s world. But perhaps the place to begin restoring it isn’t in politics, the media, or advertising. Perhaps it begins much closer to home.
It begins with the stories we tell ourselves.
Because when we have the courage to face the truth with compassion instead of judgment, we don’t simply become more honest.
We become freer.
“The truth may not always make us comfortable—but it always has the power to set us free.”
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