"What you believe yourself to be — YOU ARE." — Claude M. Bristol
You are ALWAYS either communicating with others truthfully or lying or withholding information. Truth is based on an abstract what whereas honesty is based on a sense of right and wrong. Doing something deceptively for a "good purpose" is fraud, and eventually becomes part of your truth. Opinions however are simply thoughts and beliefs held by individuals according to their existing experiences in life and are highly subject to change by additional information.
"If you are pained by external things, it is not they that disturb you, but your own judgment of them. And it is in your power to wipe out that judgment now." — Marcus Aurelius
Being untruthful with either/or yourself and others is very disempowering, leading to anger and blame to keep yourself happy, and eventually you change the "story" to convince yourself of something which isn't factual. As your integrity slips, your self-justifying perceptions leads to self-betrayal by doing something for someone else which you feel isn't right. Your untruths create a distorted reality which becomes your habitual choice of behavior. Fear of not being loved or accepted may prevent you from being totally truthful with others. Sadly, being untruthful increases your stress and expectations with time so you attract and encourage the same untruths from others.
"You got to look at things with the eye in your heart, not with the eye in your head." — Lame Deer, Medicine Man of the Oglala people
Consider the advantages of telling the total truth as well as what exactly prompts your fears of being truthful [lose of a friend or loved one, showing personal imperfections, or simply upsetting someone else]. Being truthful is the freedom to be who you really are, increases creativity, and allows acceptance of your strengths as well as weaknesses at each stage of your life. This self awareness is empowering and energizing. Plus as you become a better example to others and give more freely of yourself, you'll attract more like-minded people, learn more about yourself, and get out of dissatisfying relationships.
"The greatest enemy of any one of our truths may be the rest of our truths." — William James
Develop your truths by improving your dependability and reliability to do what you say you'll do, offer ONLY constructive comments, create win-win situations, communicate your feelings clearly, remain loyal to your friends and family and don't spread rumors, take responsibility for your feelings and behaviors but apologize whenever needed, listen closely and respectfully to others, and ALWAYS be willing to do your best while being willing to forgive both yourself and others for making bad choices. Stop making assumptions and taking other's behaviors personal.
"Learning to be aware of feelings, how they arise and how to use them creatively so they guide us to happiness, is an essential lifetime skill." — Joan Borysenko
So your perceptions of your reality and the judgments you make about your world hinge on the truth as viewed through your filter of emotions. Unfortunately, truth can be manipulated just like statistical data so that each person's perceptions can and will be different, accounting for how individuals hear different things and react accordingly to the conversations inside their OWN minds.
"Change. It has the power to uplift, to heal, to stimulate, surprise, open new doors, bring fresh experience and create excitement in life. Certainly it is worth the risk." — Leo Buscaglia
Letting truth guide your perceptions builds confidence, self esteem, and self awareness. It strengthens your focus to accomplish your dreams and goals. It dimities your limits to seeing the truth from all sides and opens you to receive others as they are.
"Nothing is easier than self-deceit. For what each man wishes, that he also believes to be true." — Demosthenes
Enjoy life now — it has an expiration date!
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