Sometimes the Truth Cannot Be Spoken — What Is Truth, Really?

And yet… betrayal is one of those experiences that makes us want to explain everything.

So many of us have been there - myself included.

You open your heart. To a partner, a friend, a family member.

You trust. You feel safe.

And then… something shifts.

You see their true colors. You realize things were not what you thought they were. And it can feel like being stabbed in the back.

It hurts. Deeply.

Because it’s not just about what happened - it’s the loss of safety, the loss of trust, the part of you that now wants to close, protect, never open like that again.

And sometimes it doesn’t stop there.

Sometimes the narrative gets twisted. Stories get changed. Lies get spread.

Not always because people are “bad”, but because facing their own truth would be too painful. So they create another version. One they can live with.

Also people often say: “but this is my truth.”

And yes… it might be their truth. Their perception. Their story.

But that doesn’t make it the truth.

What is truth, really?

We all experience life through our own lens - our past, our wounds, our beliefs, our fears.

So of course, what feels true to you can be very different from what feels true to me.

That’s what I would call subjective truth.

Your perception. Your story. Your experience.

And that matters.

It deserves to be heard and acknowledged.

But… I don’t believe that every “truth” is the truth.

Because if everything is true, then nothing really is.

Objective truth is not constantly shifting depending on who tells the story.

Objective truth is reality as it exists independent of individual perspectives - consistent, verifiable, and not altered by belief, interpretation, or narrative.

Subjective truth is reality as it is experienced and interpreted by an individual, shaped by perception, emotion, memory, and personal meaning.

Let’s take a closer look at this famous paradoxical quote

from Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching:

“Those who know do not speak; those who speak do not know.”

When you’ve been betrayed, there is this urge to defend yourself. To explain.

To make people see that you are not the one who is wrong. To prove the truth.

But if you know, deeply know, what is true, you don’t always need to fight for it.

The real truth is not loud. It doesn’t need constant validation. It lives in you.

The essence of truth, what Taoism calls the Dao, is something that cannot fully be explained anyway. It’s like trying to explain the taste of water or the feeling of love. Words will never fully capture it.

So sometimes… the most powerful thing you can do is:

Not explain more. But come back to yourself. Hold your truth quietly. Set your boundaries. Create distance where needed.

You cannot control what others say or do. But you can choose how you stand in it. And yes, if you are directly confronted, speak. Speak clearly. Speak grounded. But don’t lose yourself in the fight to be understood.

Because the right people…they don’t just listen to your words.

They feel you.

They see your consistency.Your energy.Your integrity.

And they know.

Less explaining. More experiencing. More presence.

Sometimes the deepest knowing comes not from speaking more, but from becoming quiet enough to feel.

If you know, you know.