How’s your B.S. meter?

Posted on 28 March 2012

One of the muscles I’ve built as a life coach is a highly sensitive B.S. meter.  Another way of saying that is that I’ve cultivated a sensitivity to hearing what is true and what is not. This is what people pay me for. Because sometimes it’s hard to hear your own B.S.

Here’s the thing – we, as the wonderful, always thinking human beings that we are, are continually processing, making meaning and dialoguing.  Even when we aren’t talking aloud, we’ve got an internal dialogue going almost constantly.  (Thus, the continual recommendation to meditate.  Stillness is a soothing balm!)   And in our continual processing, sometimes we’re not even thinking our own thoughts.  Sometimes we’re picking up on the big collective processing of societal anxiety. Sometimes we’re replaying our mother or father’s interpretations of the meaning of life.  Sometimes it’s our teacher’s philosophy, our friend’s opinions, or our worst critic’s voice that is running the show in our head.  These voices run like programs.  They’re interesting.  They can be insightful.  Or instructive. Or downright false.

Distinguishing your OWN voice of truth, however, is mighty important in the creation of a life that has more substance than illusion.  Want to give up a limiting belief, heal a heartache, let go of a resentment, choose a direction, or receive a brilliant creative idea?  Then listen for the truth.

Truth cuts through that which doesn’t serve you.  Truth sets you free.  Truth has an energetic ring to it, like the clear pure chime of a bell.  Untruth doesn’t resonate in the space of the heart.

My clients could use their own heart as a B.S. meter, and yet, we’re so programmed to live from our heads, it’s hard to even remember how to check in with the heart.  Add to that the fact that we live in a world in which B.S. is elevated as more important that the truth, and it’s no wonder we forget how to tell the difference.  Think advertising.  “Reality TV.”  Photoshop.  Falsehood surrounds us, and if you’re not careful, you’ll forget that life is not about the illusion.

Have you ever been told a lie and experienced a knowing in your body that it was a lie?  Our body is sensitive. When our heart receives something that is false, a reaction runs through us – unease, discomfort, contraction.  Hear a truth, and you’ll feel it in your body too.  Truth is solid, it’s clear, it’s unquestionable.  Even if you don’t like the truth you hear, you’ll know its resonance as something you can lean into.

Perfect your own B.S. meter.  Listen to what you’re saying (internally and aloud).  Ask yourself, “Is that true?”  The question creates space.  Space enough to feel the resonance of whatever you are saying.  When you start giving your body permission to guide you, it will speak.

Sometimes there are so many layers of untruths, half-truths, and tricky lies, it can take a while to get to truth.  That’s okay.  Truth is profound, and doesn’t need a lot of words, or a great elaboration. One simple knowing of truth cuts through mountains of falsehood. Let it emerge.  When truth speaks, everything else falls away.