Truth, Honesty and Transparency

Truth, honesty and transparency are three words that probably bring quivers of fear to some.  They're not for everyone, that's for sure.  It takes courage, confidence and strength to live a life striving for all three.  Some people either choose not to look at these aspects of themselves or they're just too busy with  the day-to-day stresses to stop and consider what life would be like to embody these three powerful traits.

As we consider living a life through truth, we need to realize that everyone's truth can be different.  There is no right or wrong, just perception.  Each of us can be a part of the same event and have very different perceptions of the event.  In actuality, each of us remember things differently and have a different truth of the event.  Living our own truth and respecting other people's truths is important.  It's nonjudgmental and supportive of each of our differences.

How many of us can say that we are honest with ourselves?  How about the times when we know it will be disappointing or not so pretty?  That's incredibly hard to do, but important to do never-the-less.  If we can't be honest with ourselves, how can we grow and allow ourselves to be who we're meant to be?  If I were unable to be honest with myself about being disappointed with how hard it is for me to let people in when I need it the most, I would never have an opportunity to learn how.  I'm pretty sure I'm missing out on some incredible supports and connections that others are willing to make, but I'm scared.  I'm human and it's one of my growing edges.  I'm taking baby steps in the right directions and that's only because I'm able to be honest about this shortcoming.

Honesty extends outward as well.  Being honest with the people around us and those we really care about can be heart-wrenching.  I'm sure many of you have had something to say to a loved one, but you knew that the information would hurt or even devastate them.  Do we gently and compassionately talk with them with honesty or do we do a little dance, pretending that we're protecting them.  The dance, is really avoidance and cowardly.  We need to consider that being honest will bring a deeper trust to the relationship.  It has the great potential to build a stronger respect and it encourages the other person to be honest as well.  Now, I'm not talking about opening our mouths and vomiting all over our friends.  There should be some soul searching and good consideration around the significance of the information.  Keep these three words in mind when deciding how and when to be honest with someone, integrity, compassion and courage.

Transparency is a quality that creates a vulnerability to the people and world around.  Someone who chooses a life of transparency chooses to have no skeletons in the closet, no secrets and faces people and the world with Faith instead of fear.

I've chosen to live my life through truth (my truth), honesty and transparency.  I was very fearful when debating to start a blog about what my physical body and emotional self experience on a daily basis.  A few of the challenges I face have outdated stigmas attached to them and I thought long and hard about the reaction I'd get from readers who still held these old beliefs.  The beauty is that they are not my beliefs and I don't need to worry about other people's judgements around the transparency of my life. These experiences I share are not who I am, they are learning and growing opportunities.  I believe there are good and supportive people as well as truthful, honest and transparent people who can relate to my sharings in this medium.  As I mentioned in my 'debut' post, readers will learn about me, my challenges, my successes and my vulnerabilities.  I choose not to live through fear but through Faith and trust.  My energy and focus is on my healing, telling my story so others may have the confidence to not hide and on the people who support, respect and love me through the darkness and the light.