"The first lesson is honesty!" That is the statement that I had heard once at a spiritual awakening weekend I attended.
Then, there was that summer when my life seemed to be going through turmoil and I requested a meeting with a psychic, during which she was chiming to the song: "Get honest. Be honest with yourself."
Yes, the same tune had such a profound affect on me. So much so, that it became the opening step for my debut book about living a happier life, "Be Happy."
But it hasn't stopped there. Now I have to share with you the latest on how that word is starting a big revolution. The new paradigm. The one you may not have noticed but have entered into. "The Age of Honesty."
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"What is honesty?" -- seeing it as it is
Honesty in the literal sense is described as being free of deceit, having integrity, being sincere and truthful. The last word, "truthful," is the one I personally commonly associate with Honesty. Believing in what appears to be real. What feels right. It is an interesting concept, "truth," as it can be quite subjective. We all have our own perceptions that we believe are "the truth," based upon our own experiences and interpretations. But for example my truth on a matter can therefore be completely different from yours. So whose truth is true then? One could argue that both are equally accurate or false.
How about being honest with what you feel to be true, especially when referring to you? This is most often linked to what makes you feel good.
There are many people seeking to connect to their "feel-good," which will ultimately help them live a happier and healthy life. Speaking of "feel-good," it can be a double-edged sword. On one side, you may feel good about complaining about a life situation. This may be due to being used to or believing that life should be about feeling unease and discomfort. Your belief may be from a point of view that "you must accept certain things, and get on with stuff."
The other side of the sword is to decide that your "feel-good" is having freedom to speak out if something is making you uncomfortable, displeased, or unhappy, and that you can change or simply remove yourself from that situation.
In the time we live in right now, especially in societies where there is democracy, it is easy to change your life. But this can only occur when you are being honest! With both yourself and others.
"Help is here!"
The self-help business is one that continues to grow from strength to strength. In this Age of Honesty, times have moved on in terms of what "honesty seekers" have access to. Not long ago, the route to following an honest track was to either speak to those close to you, or see a specialist to seek counseling or therapy to assist you. If you did not want go down this route, you could visit your local library or bookstore to seek wisdom and honesty through book knowledge. These methods still exist. Coaching and self-development was originally limited to people being in a formalized setting of therapy, or going on a course. But now we can "click a button" and get instant access to a wealth of information. So the only thing stopping you from being in this revolution of honesty, is you.
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What's stopping you?
What's stopping you from living in this Honesty Age? The answer is you! You can choose to resist it but it will continue to pop up.
This can for example be seen with the group of people that suffer from "Mondayitis." The feeling of weariness, sadness, apathy and general distress that many individuals feel when starting the Monday morning work week.
In the British press you may have seen those articles where people take drinking and other methods of escapism to another level. Where they are collapsed in the street, perhaps vulnerable, as they have gone on a drinking binge. Is this how you want to be? To escape from your life, when instead you can be creating a life you do not want to escape from, because you are choosing to live in the Age of Honesty.
Why resist this Age of Honesty?
So why resist the power of this Age of Honesty, where you can truly be living the life in which you can connect to your "feel-good" and be much healthier? Does it have to do with one of the following:
1)A belief you thought to be true?
2)A fear of being ridiculed or not being accepted?
3)Thinking that you will fail?
4)Not seeing that you can transform your life?
5)Is your "feel-good" simply complaining about feeling stuck?
"Let's work these out"
Poster created by Sophia Husbands via Canva
False Misrepresentations -- Times change and environments, as we have seen with the digital age, are blooming. We need to adapt to it.
A belief can sometimes be true at one moment in time. For example if we look at our daily tasks like making bread. This process used to be more labour-intensive, where the wheat [if you go for this type of grain] was grown and harvested, then picked and grinded down to be used as flour. After that the process started where you added the yeast and started kneading the flour. This process still may be the same in general, but now we have machines that make it much faster and easier to go through it. So we no longer hold the belief that it needs to be so labour-intensive.
Then there are beliefs that simply are not true. One in terms of work might be how you have to remain in a job that you do not like to make ends meet.
Fear of non-acceptance -- As social creature it is the norm to want to form relationships and be part of a group. At first people may not understand you. They too may have dreams that they are not fulfilling in fear of being shunned or excluded. But we are individuals and unique. Collectively we can create a better world just by staying true to our awesome self and inspiring others.
Failure -- Is this man-made? Do we really get it right at the first attempt? Statistics shows that we go through trial and error. Through the errors or experiences we are getting a new insight. Think about what the world would be like if we had not had the Michael Johnsons, Albert Einsteins, or Richard Bransons. Look how iPhones and iPads have made things easier and more fun to get to.
Transformation -- Is the process of moving from one point to another. We are visual beings and sometimes we may find it hard to see getting to a destination, if we have not taken a route to it. Transforming is about making a start. Using a technique or approach that you may not have used before. Life is a risk. When we go out our front door we don't know who or what we will encounter. Maybe we'll get into an accident, or maybe we will be meeting the love of our life. But it is worth going on this life's adventure.
Going back to the previous point on fear of failure. You can get inspired sometimes by others who have gone on similar paths. These days you can reach out to people even on the Internet. You may find it surprising but some people get a buzz out of helping or inspiring others.
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Feeling comfortable and enjoying misery -- you may have gotten into the habit of just enjoying complaining about why you may not like your life.
Question: So, what's stopping you from being in the Age of Honesty?