How truthful are you?

 

Definition: To be honest about things and feelings with oneself and others

 

Truthfulness has many characteristics and its complexity unfolds as we mature. Truthfulness is a lifelong guideline to practice. Its attributes are complex and often dependent on circumstances.

"To be truthful means being honest about things and feelings...being honest with ourselves and with others. Being truthful is not always easy because truth is not black and white. Two seemingly contradictory statements could both be the truth depending upon the perspectives of the observers. It takes courage to be truthful because others may disagree.”

Being truthful requires good judgment about WHAT to say, WHEN to say it, to WHOM to say it and HOW to say it.

Being truthful is an important building block for human relationships and therefore has significant consequences on both the short-term and long-term."

If we aren't truthful; people and especially family and friends, will be suspicious when we share experiences, stories or feelings. And if we can't be trusted to tell the truth with even insignificant information, how can anyone believe that we we are saying is true? By telling the truth, friends, family, and colleagues will believe what we say and in addition the human body feels less stressed when we tell the truth.

When being truthful you will experience an increased sense of confidence, less anxiety, worry and guilt. You will have an increased ability to deal with crises and be better equipped to handle problems. You will experience improved interpersonal relationships and greater control of your emotions. You may also experience the ability reason better and to influence other people.

When you’re not truthful, you tend to be more frustrated with yourself and life in general, you may lack self-confidence, have dysfunctional relationships with family, friends and colleagues and possible suffer different kinds of stresses.

A renowned quote states the following “If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything”. Tell the entire truth immediately rather than a little at a time. Credibility and trustworthiness is easy to destroy with a few simple untrue stories that’s told in a moment.

Telling the truth isn't always easy. Often, telling the truth brings unpleasant consequences. However, telling a lie under whatever circumstances almost always has far-reaching consequences and too often of greater severity than if we simply spoke the truth up front and accepted the consequences. - as unpleasant as it might be. Once we're caught lying, people lose faith and confidence in us and this is devastating. Rebuilding trust is a topic for another post.

Remember: Truthfulness is one of the greatest and most important of all human virtues. Speak the truth, even if it hurts.