Bruce Jenner, Evolution and the Family
Bruce Jenner is transgender. Who would have ever imagined! I know I wouldn’t have. I was riveted this last weekend as I watched him share his story with Diane Sawyer for the whole world to see. To think that a man who was once the world’s greatest athlete has been hiding this secret since he was a little boy and is now standing in his truth in his 60’s is so inspiring!
I know some people might disagree with me. I saw a LOT of negativity around Bruce’s admission over the weekend on social media. There were two thoughts that stood out to me the most. One was the fact that people were concerned about how he “could do this to his family.” The second was about religion. I want to share my thoughts on both.
Let’s talk about religion first. I posted that I thought Bruce having the courage to stand in his truth was honoring and loving the way God created him. Some balked at this and asked if by changing his gender was he not saying God made a mistake. This is a very valid question, but I don’t think Bruce is dishonoring God by taking this stand for himself. In fact, I think it’s quite the opposite.
There’s a Bible passage where Jesus says that he is leaving us now, but that he leaves us with a counselor, and that no one can see it and no one will accept it, because it’s the Truth inside of you.
In spite of the fact that Bruce was created in a man’s body, the truth inside of him says differently. What it tells me is that he came into this life to be a strong messenger of God. If you look at Bruce’s life, you can tell he has been preparing for this all along. If he weren’t the celebrity that he is, this change wouldn’t make such an impact. Bruce played by society’s “good little boy rules” and now he’s breaking those rules and standing in his truth. I know people who are already looking at their lives and their lack of courage after hearing his interview. And that in itself is the greatest gift Bruce can give: helping people to muster the courage to break the rules and stand in their truths.
And that leads me to the concerns about Bruce’s family. Our world tends to be quite dysfunctional when it comes to family. We hold our voices in and don’t share our truths because we fear hurting the ones we love the most. But when we hold ourselves back, we create emotional chaos and dysfunction, setting an example for our loved ones to do the same. Well, I don’t know about you, but I want my family to thrive from the inside out. And the only way to do that is to muster courage to stand in your truth and honor and accept who you are, not who you think you “need to be” to give and receive love.
Photo Courtesy of ABC News
Love comes from within. As long as we continue to hide our truths so that our families won’t hurt, we will clip their wings from flying. I learned this firsthand years ago. When I quit playing the dysfunctional wife and mom role and began to stand in my truth with my family, no longer constantly trying to make them happy, but rather being an example of taking responsibility for my own inner abundance, my family shifted into a deeper love than I could have ever imagined. In fact, my late hubby Steve said to me, “I feel better in my skin than I’ve ever felt.” I asked him why and he said, “When you quit caretaking me to find yourself, it forced me to find myself. And I feel better in my skin than I’ve ever felt.”
Steve’s words have helped me stay grounded in my truth, especially those times when I didn’t feel I had the courage to do so.
Courage to stand in your truth aligns you with God. It means you are putting God first. In most families, we don’t do this. We put our kids or our spouses first. I believe this is why families struggle. We’ve lost sight of putting God first. Some would disagree with this. We’ve been conditioned to believe that putting yourself and your Truth on the backburner is putting God first. But when you hide your thoughts, feelings, desires and dreams, you disconnect from who you were created to be. You separate from your truth. You separate from God. And in this separation, you suffer.
Like Bruce, it’s time to evolve and end the suffering. It’s time to do family a different way. It’s time to be an Enlightened Family.
An Enlightened Family is a family committed to leaving the old family paradigm and making Truth the number one priority. Think of it this way: Truth = Unconditional Love. We thought the old way of being family was unconditional love, but as long as we continue to do it the “old way” and hide our true selves, we perpetuate a cycle of pain and suffering.
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To learn more about The Enlightened Family and to listen to a free audio, go to http:terribritt.com/family.
[sharexy]
Terri!
Well said!!! You are an inspiration!!!!
Thank you, Tanya! So happy to see you here.
If very interesting how we are so
Interested In Bruce Jenner
Personal problem .. Why we
Don’t get involve with all the kids that are suffering everyday from child abuse. Why we do not Get moré involve with The abuse to the black community and how the poor is growing in America. Is very sad what is happening in this country because how change your sexual desire are more important. And this comment has nothing to do with religion but yes with our responsibility as an Americans
I couldn’t agree with you more, Maria. However, what Bruce is doing is making a difference in its own way. People need to take a stand for their truths and he’s helping a lot of people do that. Maybe as we all take this stand, it will end a lot of judgment and bring compassion onto the planet. Then more people will stand up to help with these bigger issues.
Thank you for sharing this, especially the part about honoring how God created him/her. I thought Bruce expressed it beautifully when he said it was hisher soul that felt female. It seems to me that the soul is where we identify with God, where we connect with others and our Highest Self. I certainly do not understand what s/he is going through, but I do understand how important it is to feel we are living our truth because I have been disconnected from that and it doesn’t feel good. I wish Bruce happiness and wholeness.
Laura, I feel the same way. When I stayed in my head and allowed it to guide me, I was miserable. It was all about ego and wanting people to see that I was being good. But when I let go of people’s opinions and moved out of ego to listen to the counselor in my heart, I became a much more loving person. I’m glad you’ve found your truth and are here to share it!
I appreciate what you have shared, but several times you mention that Bruce is standing in his truth. the Truth is that the only truth that matters is God’s TRUTH. In fact, the Bible warns us that if we stand on our own power and our own feelings it is a straight path to destruction. When we follow God’s word we have to put self aside and follow what God has in store for us – God’s purpose for each of us. God’s purpose will NEVER go against His own word, so while I think that Bruce Jenner’s heart is in the right place – that is just the problem; we cannot always trust our heart. Seek God’s heart
Veronica, thank you for being here and sharing your heart in a loving way. I truly appreciate it. And I appreciate your convictions. I believe what you’ve described as our hearts were not really our hearts at all. I believe they were our egos trying to tell us how to act or behave so that we could make others love us. We put others before God. In my opinion, when you stand in your truth, you are letting go of ego and following God’s guidance of your heart. You are putting God first. I’ll give you an example. I was miserable for years, always trying to do the right thing and be a good Christian girl. I didn’t allow myself a voice, I didn’t ask for what I needed, nor did I allow myself to receive love unless I felt I had proved that I was worthy. I felt disconnected and alone. As a result, I was an emotional mess filled with guilt and self-judgment. I hated when I took my pain out on my family. It was usually during knee-jerk reactions. I got to a point where I couldn’t stand myself. So I made a decision to heal and go within to let go of the beliefs that were causing me to react in the first place. I got out of my head and quit making others the authority of my life and allowed God to be the guide. As I did this, my whole family became more loving and whole. Because I quit performing, my hubby did, too. We both put God at the helm by getting real and honoring the way we were created. The walls between us came down and our marriage blossomed after years of feeling walls between us. When my hubby died, Charlie came into my life. At first my kids were angry which was understandable. I almost let my ego take over and not follow the guidance to be with Charlie. But my heart said I had to. There were people who felt I should wait, but I knew I had to let their opinions go and follow the messages that God put in my heart. I told my kids, “I would never intentionally hurt you, but God comes first in my life. So, I must honor this and be with Charlie.” It was hard at first. Most people would have said I was wrong. But I knew I had to stand in my truth. And I’m so glad I did! My kids will tell you it was the best gift I could have done. Charlie and I have a dynamic, passionate marriage to the point people come up to us and say, “I want what you two have.” My kids adore Charlie and will tell you they love him to death. This is just one of hundreds of examples where I have gone within to listen to God and given the people around me blessings and gifts. And this isn’t even talking about all the miracles that have shown up over the years by living this way. So, to answer your concerns, I believe God’s truth is in each of us and it is up to us to dive deep inside and find the love within.
Dear Veronica and Terri,
Veronica, thank you so much for sharing your voice with honesty I so appreciate that – had you not I would have not grown in myself, wow, The huge navigational depths of being born in a body that is not your inner soul-gender to me holds one of the most deeply arduous, extraordinarily traumatic potentially (for most on their paths early on at least?!!), hugely discriminated against and so forth roads to travel in a human life-time. I believe expressing God’s Truth is not for me to judge what it may be, and maybe some in such predicament find God’s LOVE know being in alignment early on so maybe even my ideas of ‘plight’ are for myself to re-examine also…
It is a subject very close to my heart for many reasons. So I felt a strong emotion reaction to your post Veronica. THANK YOU Terri for allowing my own growing in witnessing how you responded to Veronica with your love and the time you took to expand upon why you stand in your authenticity in your original post. While I personally share deeply Terri’s viewpoint (yet from my own personal experiences including opening to Truth, God….!) I COULD NOT HAVE LEARNED without you both.
In GRATITUDE, Pixie xXx
Pixie, I’m so glad you’re here and I’m so grateful that by both Veronica and me standing in our truths that it helped you. This is why we don’t all need to be the same. As we stand in our truths and speak with honesty and respect for one another, we become messengers for others to find and accept their truths. Wouldn’t it be amazing if our world leaders would do this? I truly believe if we will all have the courage to look within, we can make global changes, but it has to start with loving ourselves first. Thank you, Pixie! You have made a difference for someone else today by sharing your heart. Hugs!
Love what you wrote here, momma 🙂 I think everyone should have the right and the safe space to be able to show their true colors without judgement and with compassion. I think God would be proud to see people loving unconditionally and supporting one another in their journeys as opposed to suppressing their hearts. I love Charlie and I love you! You are amazing and passionate and i’m proud to be your daughter! Love you oodles.
Thank you so much, Kolbi! You are a shining light and a wonderful example of how honoring and loving who you were created to be is the greatest gift for your loved ones.
I agree with you when you state that the old way only perpetuates more pain and suffering. This is so true.