Truth. A five letter word. Yet so difficult to master or to understand. The simplest of concepts are sometimes those that are most challenging to comprehend. A simple google search tells us that truth is ‘that which is true or in accordance with fact or reality’. I don’t know about you, but I recall in grade school that it was a ‘no-no’ to define a word using that word or the ‘root’ of that word. Yet, with a simple word as this, a five letter word, truth, we find the definer defining the word with its root word.

Why?

Because in some cases, the very root of the definition is a concept that is not easily understood. There are complexities, dimensions, and intricate details that cannot be easily defined. As in the image above, what we see above the surface is very different than what lies beneath. In this image, the ice above the surface is smooth, molded, and well defined. However, what lies below is vast and has intricate details, a rough terrain, and sharp edges.

What lies above the surface is not a sound indicator of what is present just below it. The truth rarely obvious to the onlooker. Your relationship with your spouse, your parents, your friends, your siblings, your supervisors, your colleague, and every person you and I come in contact with are not simply as they appear. There is depth. Depth that often remains unexplored.

I challenge each of you to explore below the surface. I challenge you to do something that is different, strange, and unfamiliar. Most importantly, I challenge you to start with yourself. As you explore the intricate details of what make you who are in your individuality, it will innately encourage you to consider the intricacies of the people you encounter. As a result, sensitivities to, considerations of, and respect of each other’s individuality will follow. Merely considering what’s below the surface is a behavior that has the power to change what our society embodies as normal. Challenge what is normal. Change the world…one ‘norm’ at a time. Simple changes can facilitate progress.