On my journey to be more honest with myself, I am beginning to think Carl Rogers' concept of “trusting your own experience” is important. Perhaps it helps with honesty because second-guessing your experience can derail an otherwise honest self-conversation.

Trivial example: While on a meditation retreat I practiced yoga daily. The practice had a whole new quality that I had never experienced before. Adding concentration to what had previously been solely about movement and breathing transformed the practice into something new and better!

Practicing now (back in the real world), I have found myself dismissing concentration, as if I don’t trust that the experience I had on retreat really occurred.

It’s very strange.

The honest thing to say, is that concentration transforms the practice AND I am having trouble cultivating much concentration in my daily practice.

My hope is that honesty (and again, this was a VERY trivial example) of this sort is healthy and helps lead to growth. The inclination to second-guess and turn away from my experience seems both strange and an integral part of a life not fully lived.