How about we play a little game..
Truth or dare?
Dare.
ok… I dare you to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Consider this your sworn testimony to life.
Now I don’t mean tell the truth about some things and allude to the truth or only share certain parts, that won’t hurt the person you’re talking to. I don’t mean sharing a story about someone in hopes that the receiver of your narrative will spit out their truthful lives back to you. This doesn’t mean you need to live a falsehood to claim what you do, speak, and believe is honest. I mean to tell the truth. If it hurts or harms the people around you, you may 1) not be an honest person, 2) you may need to rethink some of your actions, 3) you may need some higher form of guidance, and 4) you may just be something considered a little too honest (honestly, they’ll thank you in the end for it).
Why would you want to live with someone who you have to hide things from, have to make up stories to cover up your reality? Sounds like a lot of work huh? Well would you? I wouldn’t. So, if you aren’t honest, could you live with yourself?
Make honesty rewarding. Think of it as trick or treating for Halloween candy or presents from Santa. For every point of interaction and option to participate in life honestly, consider that a new house you visit or a present under the twinkling Christmas tree. When you choose your path of honesty you get a treat. Deciding to hide that honesty or participate in an activity considered as non-truthful, you better believe you’ll eventually get a piece of coal in your stocking.
Karma, Christianity, Astrology, Mormonism, or even for that matter Scientology; all practice a system of positive rewards and negative deterrents, for certain actions you take in life. Think about it, life is a series of events and opportunities, small decisions you make on a minute to minute basis. Each one related to the previous and just as important as the next one; each one effects future circumstances and windows towards your destiny.
Let’s put this into play. Think of social media and how you perceive certain “users” or account figureheads (that’s right, some of those accounts have 10 or more people working on them, it takes a village to build an image) and even how those blue check marks, light up a profile just a little bit more. Do you really think these celebrities, accounts, and influencers are being their most honest selves? You think that those sugar bear hair gummies are actually a ‘God-send’? The real ‘God-send’: the weave and clip-ins from the hair factories in India, mixed with the celebrity hair stylists (with 10+ years of experience), and just a dash - oops - ok a HUGE splash of photoshop. There you go, the perfect ad campaign at the fingertips of every consumer with access to the internet. Honestly, I’d rather not watch celebrities earn millions for sharing their tips and tricks to a perfect mane. This isn’t to say every celebrity and influencer shares only falsehoods with the public, there are quite a few that have been brave enough to expose their lives truthfully, with the purpose of being vulnerable.
Practicing honesty will allow you to see yourself for who you really are, it will let you see others as they really are as well. Give it a try and let me know if you have feedback; honestly, I’d love to hear it.
Also here’s a link to this spot in Italy I’ve been thinking about all week.