Weird Myths that Persist

I'm thinking about truth.

For some reason we believe things that aren't true. Here is a sampling of things that are widely believed, yet are definitely not true:

Myth: Hair that's shaved off grows back thicker and darker.
Truth: Hair that is shaved only appears thicker and darker because the blunt end of the hair is seen opening the skin follicle. In plain English, it's an optical illusion. How do we know? I have blonde hair and I've been shaving my legs for ~20 years. My leg hair is still blonde, it's not thicker and darker. And balding men would fix their balding problem by shaving their head several times.

Myth: Trimming your ends helps your hair grow faster.
Truth: Your hair doesn't grow from your ends, it grows from your head. That's why they're called your roots--it's where the growth comes from. If you dye your hair you find you have to touch-up your roots because they are growing out. Trimming your ends only makes your hair look healthier overall.

Myth: It is illegal to pick bluebonnets in Texas.
Truth: You can legally pick bluebonnets in Texas, but you cannot trespass or block traffic or run around drunk or naked in order to do so, because those things are already illegal.

Why does it matter? What difference does it make knowing things like this? Too often people think there is no such thing as truth anymore, like everything is subjective. "MY hair grows better when I trim the ends..." and "I don't have anger issues. YOU just drive me nuts." But there are absolute truths. It's really difficult to stand by and watch someone continue to follow something that isn't true. I'm not talking about hair or bluebonnets here, but addictions and the like. When you know what's really going on in a situation it's so hard to not preach to the person hung up on the lie.

This is one of the things I struggle with. The art of shutting up. The art of looking at the fine line between lovingly telling someone something they need to hear and going overboard trying to run that person's life. And people do this to me. That's another (not so bad) struggle: how to gently tell them they have crossed the line and they need to back off right now.

Truth isn't something that's found within us, otherwise it would be different for each person. Yeah, we totally have our own preferences, and that's awesome. We're not supposed to all be the same exactly. We can express Truth in different ways. That sounds weird, so here are some examples: Christian denominations. Frankly, I don't agree with everything that other denominations do/believe. But the Baptists rock at evangelism (NOT Westboro Baptist. I pray they sit down and strongly rethink the hate messages they continue to send. That's just one church, not a denomination or religion). Roman Catholics are awesome at outreach. United Methodists are deeply compassionate and full of ideas that bring glory to God.

Another example: we need to take care of the earth, regardless of global warming being a myth or documented. No matter why the earth goes through climate changes, we still need to take care of it. Some people choose to reduce, reuse, recycle. Some choose products that aren't damaging to the earth (like using vinegar and baking soda instead of Raid for their indoor ant problem). Some people bike or walk as often as possible, drive a hybrid, or limit how much electricity they use.

Now here's another (and please, nobody start preaching, just yell Amen!): love your neighbor. Love doesn't mean enable. Love doesn't mean become a doormat for your neighbor. Love doesn't mean you agree with everything your neighbor says or does. Love is being patient, kind, self-controlled. We all have something in common: deep down, we all believe that we are above-average drivers. Oh, wait. Deep down, all of us need to be loved and love in return.

I'm gonna rip off The Help here.
You is kind.
You is smart.
You is important.

Those things are also true. HOW kind, smart, and important you are is up to you. If you are kind and smart, you are quite likely to also be important. You're probably important to a few people anyway--your family. Even if you're driving them crazy, they still put value on you that other people don't.

So I'm gonna try to focus on myself in that I'm making sure I am kind and doing smart things, keeping promises, and not biting people's heads off when they have a different opinion than me. I'm gonna focus on the truth, what's important. Bashing others takes away time and energy I could be spending on improving myself.

P.S. I totally crossed another item off my bucket list (take my son to the beach). Yeah!