When our backs are against the wall, we learn what we truly believe in through the way we call for help. It’s good to get this clear before we find ourselves in an extreme situation. “To thine own self be true” is excellent counsel. This means putting ourselves in touch with a deeper and wiser self. It also means defining and living our personal truth.

The Greek word for truth, aletheia means “not forgetting” – literally, not being overcome by the waters of Lethe, the River of Forgetfulness. The pre-Socratic Greek philosophers defined aletheia as what we remember and enact. If our truth is something we have to look up or be reminded about by others, it is not yet personal truth. If we fail to act from what we know and believe to be true, then out truth is not yet operational in our lives.

In the face of adversity of any kind, not only psychic disturbance but any kind of challenge or setback, it is vitally important for us to remember and act according to our truth. We can hardly do this unless we have defined what are the fundamental truths of life for us.

So any time is the right time to subject ourselves to an interrogation along the following lines. We must answer the questions from the heart and the gut, not only the head. When we have found our answers, we can use them as personal mottos or mantras or battle cries.

What do you love?

What makes you happy?

What makes you want to be in the body?

What makes you laugh?

What would you risk everything to defend?

Who do you trust beyond all others?

What does your heart long for?

What is your life motto?