Recently I began going barefoot a lot. It has been interesting how individuals respond. Most people have expressed concern of the risks I am taking and the unreasonable dangers I expose myself to by going around barefoot in public. Danger of stepping on sharp objects, like needles discarded by drug users. Exposing myself to an infectious disease, more likely to catch a cold, acquire athlete’s foot fungus, etc.
Yet, I believe one is much more likely to be exposed to an infectious disease by the length of time they spend in a hospital or an airplane than by going around barefoot. Athlete’s foot fungus will not survive unless it is in a confined closed moist environment (like when wearing shoes).
I have many more conversations about what is Truth as I have gone around barefoot. I am pleased with how often people acknowledge the benefits of going barefoot. It helps you have better balance, strengthens the arches in your feet and your ankles, thus lessening the chances for feet and ankle injuries. Going barefoot keeps your feet from sweating thus eliminating the opportunity for fungus to survive on your feet.
Many are surprised to hear there has never been a law requiring a driver to wear shoes when driving a vehicle, yet my generation grew up believing it was against the law, simply by this lie being repeated so often and never being challenged.
OSHA and the FDA have never issued a mandate for customers to wear foot coverings on their feet to be served in restaurants and retail stores. And while the “No shirt, No shoes, No service” has been widely accepted as Truth, it has never been a legal mandate. Simply a tradition accepted as Truth.
How many times do you need to hear something before you believe it is Truth?
When we are in school or learning about a new topic, and when we are young, we are likely to believe something is Truth the first time we hear it. This would be like when you first learn about the Revolutionary War in America.
For details we have heard all of our lives, and have grown up believing to be Truth, we may never change our minds, until we have a personal experience of significant impact. Example: a mother whose two-year-old child has a life-altering reaction to a routine vaccine.
With the COVID epidemic over the past four years, the confidence people placed in government providing Truth in their mandates and protocol treatment for COVID, and their reporting the outcomes of their mandates has come under question. This opened wide the door for many to change who they now trust to provide Truth for their health and wellness.
In the past three years I have become aware of studies showing the vast majority of people will agree with peers to declare an obvious lie as Truth. In other words, people tend to conform to stay with the crowd, instead standing out to declare Truth.
As I continue to ponder the confidence the majority of people place in what they perceive as Truth, I am increasingly questioning what is Truth?
I am pausing to consider the reasonableness of information presented to me, before accepting the information as Truth.
I now question information commonly accepted as Truth. Like:
- A college education is the best path to a good career. (perhaps in any field)
- The stock market will continue to perform as it has for the last 100 years.
- Vaccines are safe and reduce the risk of diseases.
We build our lives on what we believe to be True. There is a great tendency to agree with the masses and accept as Truth what is repeated continuously.
The more I learn about how we are taught and the power of peer pressure, the more comfortable I am to stand out from the crowd and question “What is Truth?”
How about you?
