Came across an old Grasshopper Note that is as close as I can get to defining “True.”

“True: What You Do.”

I’ve had a hard time with the word “truth” for a long time. Based on my experience, “truth” had too many interpretations, like “my truth,” “your truth” and that old standby “it’s the truth.”

I am now comfortable with a definition of what is true: It’s what you do.

How often have you said something as stupid as this: “I know what I’d do in that situation.” No you don’t. You know what you think you would do and you label that as true. Too often we don’t do what we think we would do, so our pronouncement often isn’t true.

True is only what you do do, and I don’t mean that in a smelly sense.

Your words are sometimes true; your actions are always true, because true is what you do.

“I went to the store” is true. “You went to the store with the intention of robbing it,” says the prosecutor. That may or may not be true.

True can be verified by cataloging your actions, not by interpreting them.

I’ve grown weary of the word “true” as it’s commonly tossed about. There are too many false premises in most peoples’ use of the word.

“True” doesn’t have modifiers. “It’s a.m. here on the east coast.” That’s true if it’s after midnight and before Noon. “It’s a lovely morning here on the east coast” is debatable.

Leave the modifiers out of your actions and you’ll be telling the truth.

My main purpose in writing this is to call attention to our often, lame attempts to justify our actions. It’s really this simple: You did what you did and that’s the truth.

All the best,

John