Honesty is a very expensive gift. Don’t expect it from cheap people.
Honesty is a very expensive gift. Don’t expect it from cheap people.
Can I be perfectly honest?
Of course I can. The bigger question is… will I?
Being perfectly honest is a choice that comes with many consequences, both good and bad.
The world of business is jam packed with lies, mistruths, partial truths and an occasional completely honest response.
The choice to be completely honest enables one to fully understand the ramifications of speaking one’s mind, regardless of outcome. There are times when this is a luxury that we afford ourselves, for better or worse. On the negative side, we may find ourselves pushed to the point of being blunt with another party, and that which is communicated is not the kindest form of communication. If the circumstances are bad enough, that which is shared can be rude, antagonistic and caustic. Yet, at other times, when we are giving a deep complement that comes from the heart, being completely honest is one of the most valuable gifts you can give another human being. They can sense that you are genuine and your esteem escalates in their world because you were conscious enough to recognize whatever it was that you chose to complement and to share that information with the other party.
I was raised to believe that kind thoughts are very appropriate to share. Whenever I have the opportunity to communicate these feelings to another person in either a personal or professional relationship, I am most certain to ensure that they know how I feel. Conversely, I have tried to make it a personal and professional apology that negative communication should be reduced to a bare minimum and shared only when absolutely necessary, and restricted to minimal communication in all such circumstances.
Undoubtedly, we have all encountered more than our share of people who are transparently fake and whose communications with us are perpetually suspect due to their clear willingness to say whatever they wish to say, regardless of any negative impact their statements should make.
Sometimes the truth genuinely hurts, other times the truth can make us feel better than almost anything on the planet. How interesting that this particular topic carries the full weight and measure of both sides of the equation.
When the right person looks you in the eyes and speaks from the heart, there is almost nothing else like it. At that moment you are fully aware that this human being is desirous of communicating something of magnitude and their facial expressions and nonverbal body language fully support all that they are saying. We have internal receptors that help us cue in on these minutia details, because as a communicative specie, we are more attuned to these particular variables.
If you try every day to find the time to communicate something warm from the heart to another human being, your life cannot help but get richer for your having made those choices. It is a great ritual to employ in your day to day experiences, and the more that you share honest feelings from your heart with others, the richer you will grow.
Happy Thursday!
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