18-24 April 2016

Truthfulness – Characteristic / Virtue of the Week

Be the change you wish to see in the world.

Truthfulness – What does this card say to you today?

I’ve often said that when you practice one virtue you practice another and for some reason flexibility is also coming up for me so more about that later. There’s so many things that this card speaks to me of today.

Firstly it’s important to be truthful with ourselves – we’re always telling ourselves stories. Stories are often judgements on what someone else did or said and how it affects us and impacts on us. We need to understand fact from fiction because this is where we spend a lot of our time and effort unnecessarily – in the unreal world that we created due to our thoughts.

What’s true and what’s not true? What are the undeniable facts and what is the story created around the facts? Be honest. Then choose to change your behaviour based on recognising fact from fiction, as often if you change one thing everything around it changes too. Give it a go.

Now onto flexibility – it’s also important to recognise what’s true for us and what’s true for someone else – I love the ‘I investigate the truth for myself’ in the practice of truthfulness. Are you flexible enough to recognise that your truth isn’t necessarily someone’s else’s truth? They have a different perspective based on their different experiences? This is what I love about our complex world – there’s so much to learn from one another.

How to practice Truthfulness:

For young adults & adults:

• Start to recognise your ‘story’ opposed to the facts of any given situation.
• Once you recognise your story think about your behaviour in terms of your story and what your behaviour would look like if you had a different story.
• Take action regarding your behaviour – change it to something more positive if your story is holding you back.

For child care centres & schools:

• Be mindful of language – ask children to speak the truth by being honest. Remove the word ‘liar’.
• If something is said that is not kind or tactful ask the person to share their statement again in a kind manner.
• Discuss seeing the truth with their own eyes and not through the eyes of others.

For families:

• Discuss what each member of the family would like from the family in terms of family culture.
• When making promises keep them.
• Talk about discernment and what it means and how it helps to make good decisions and discuss a few potential situations.

For businesses & organisations:

• Consider this question when making decisions involving clients – & be honest – Are we putting the customer first or the company first?
• Are all staff aware of the mission statement of the company?
• Who, if anyone, strives to deceive or impress others? Empower staff to know they are enough and contribute to the company in their own special way.