Honest in all you do
It seems like a natural human thing (at least I hope I’m not alone in it) to sugar coat things, beat around the bush, ..to say what we think others want to hear. It’s often out of good intention, and frequently out of fear.
Yet, one of the first God-given commandments was “Thou shalt not bear false witness,” and one of the current temple recommend interview questions is “Do you strive to be honest in all that you do?”
Intentional communication
This commandment and question invite us to do more than just “don’t lie, cheat, or steal.” They invite us to say what we mean and mean what we say… to embrace vulnerability and shine light on our hopes, fears, and dreams that seem easier to bear when we keep them in the dark.
I’ve decided that…
I spend too much of my life trying to avoid saying the “wrong” thing, and not enough saying the “right” thing.
The right thing is honesty… It’s not worrying about if I’m coming across as too eager, too interested, too reserved, too.. whatever. It’s focusing on coming across right. Being authentic.
It’s telling the girl I’m interested in her. It’s admitting to a friend that I broke his trust. It’s speaking up when I’m aware of false assumptions. It’s telling my loved ones I love them… because I do :)
Being honest is risky, but it’s worth the risk!
I want to see you be brave!
What would you say if you were more worried about “saying the right thing” than about “not saying the wrong thing”?
What risk would you take if you trusted the fact that it’s riskier to leave the truth unsaid?
If I had been more honest and taken more risks at so many points in my life, even the worst-case long-term impacts on my current life would be negligible. At the same time, the beautiful relationships and experiences that could have come from those risks are lost forever.
Perhaps it’s time to take a lesson from Sara Bareilles and this children’s choir :)
My recent HWN has been in deciding to be more intentionally honest.
p.s. It’s been about 9 months since my last post. I apologize for that! Moving to the other side of the country and starting a new career have been an adventure :) I’m enjoying getting to know myself more, meeting lots of new people, and exploring new places.
So many other things have happened since my last post, and I can’t do justice to them all. I can share a couple story photo albums I put together — a New England trip last Fall, and a Family visit to DC a few weeks ago.
Lastly, I just want to express how grateful I am that my brother Danny and his wife Sarah and daughter Marina have lived nearby this last year. I will miss them now that they’re moving to Florida, but glad they’ll still be my nearest family members, and at least still on the East coast :)
