What "Hard Truths" Have You Learned In Life?

ONLINE MEETING (ZOOM)

What hard truths have you learned in life?

In other words, what were some realizations you have had that really changed things?

What were (are) the things that happened (are happening) to us?, or realizations that came to us, that made us question and/or change some belief or value we had before?

It could be something small, such as “this made me realize that I’m not as good at baseball as I thought,” or “I’m not as attractive as I thought I was” (although those may be major things to some people), or it could be something more major such as “I think this person I’m involved with is manipulating me,” or “I think this group I am a part of may be a cult.”

Note:
Please note that an aim of this group is to engage in dialogue not debate. While maintaining the freedom to be ourselves and honestly state what we think and feel, we want to generally do so in a civilized way.

In dialogue, there is an emphasis on listening to one and other to understand, in debate one listens to find flaws and to counter back. In dialogue, an openness exploration is primary, in debate one only reaffirms and protects one's own point of view. Dialogue explores assumptions and conclusions in open consideration, Debate defends assumptions and conclusions as fact and or truth.

An emphasis in this group is to be aware of one's own immediate and direct perception and experience. This is meant to encourage one to go beyond habitual or conditioned intellectual or conceptual "knowing", to a more holistic or healing awareness and experience.

Freedom of thought and expression are valued greatly. There is no designated expert, no guru, no leader/facilitator per se. Diversity of perspective and opposing points of view are frequently expressed and the value of each person expressing their point of view is acknowledged.

What is, or what is true or meaningful is a theme often explored in dialogue at our meetings. As are thoughts related to life, self, awareness, consciousness, perception, thought, relationship, love, compassion and the like. These topics often arise in one way or another, either directly or indirectly. Also explored frequently is the meaning of the words in the group's title - dialogue, human, and experience.