Jaime Jackson Safety Blog: HONESTY

Jaime Jackson Safety Blog: HONESTY: “Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom.”                                                   Thomas Jefferson Honesty is the best...

HONESTY

“Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom.”

                                        Thomas Jefferson

Honesty is the best policy. Like a lot of things when we are honest, we

do not think much of it because it is simply the right thing to do. Like a

hangover though, dishonesty makes us feel miserable about ourselves

and this should be a feeling we want to avoid. Honesty means total

honesty. Openness, not half-truths, partial truths, or embellishment.

Be honest. Be honest with others. Be honest with yourself. We create

unnecessary stress for ourselves when we are dishonest, evasive,

or not forthcoming. Being honest is one of the things we have total

control over. We choose what we want to say or how we want to act.

Do we want to feel good about ourselves or do we want to feel guilty,

filled with regret? We choose. Be honest.

You can get the International bestseller The Shi*t I Wished I learned in College here:

 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C5FMWDGW

Jaime Jackson Safety Blog: Principles Do Not Change

Jaime Jackson Safety Blog: Principles Do Not Change:                                                                          “Do the right thing, do the best you can, and always show people yo...

Principles Do Not Change

                                                          

“Do the right thing, do the best you can, and always show people you care.” --Lou Holtz

Do the right thing! While I have not counted, it is probably the most

repeated phrase in Marcus Aurelius’ timeless Meditations. Robert

Kennedy used to always tell his kids at the dinner table, be guided by

principles, not ambition. We get blinded by ambition. Lose sight of our

values. Principles. Virtues. As we look at the prize. Win at all costs. That

phrase could not be more off the mark because if we compromise our

principles and values to “win”, we lose. We may think we have won a

battle, but we lost the war with ourselves. I am not talking about flat out

cheating like performance enhancing drugs in sports, we know that is

wrong. I mean bending even on the “little things” and thinking the end

justifies the means. It does not. In the end, all we have is our character

and reputation. More to the point, how we feel about ourselves. We

must always peer into the window of ourselves. In the mirror. Stare at

ourselves in the mirror and we better love what we see staring back at us.

You can get the International bestseller The Shi*t I Wished I learned in College here:

 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C5FMWDGW

Jaime Jackson Safety Blog: TRUTH

Jaime Jackson Safety Blog: TRUTH:   “Truth has no special time of its own. Its hour is now-always.”                                                   Albert Sweitzer “In a wo...

TRUTH

 

“Truth has no special time of its own. Its hour is now-always.”

                                        Albert Sweitzer

“In a world of deceit, telling the truth is revolutionary.”

                                        George Orwell

“Truth does not change according to our

ability to stomach it emotionally.”

                                        Flannery O’Conner

The truth is disarming. Why is it that at times it is so difficult to be

completely truthful? Not partly truthful, not half-truths, not necessarily

outright dishonesty or lying, but untruthful by omission. Failure

to disclose everything. Hiding the ball. The irony is, being truthful is

revolutionary. Being truthful is disarming. Being truthful is unexpected.

Being truthful, people do not know how to react. The default position

is they do not believe you. Still, we must tell the truth. Your word is

your word. Guard it.

At times it may feel harder, but it is always easier to just tell the

truth. This means the whole truth. No exaggeration. No hidden little

secrets. It just feels better in the end, and it is the right thing to do.

Conversely, not telling the truth, the little white lie, being deceitful,

exaggerating or trying to manipulate just creates stress, tension, and

headaches. The cost of being untruthful far outweighs any harm that

may come from telling the truth. The benefits of telling the truth far

outweigh the cost of being untruthful. When we add in our character,

being truthful versus untruthful, our words, how we feel about

ourselves, the truth always wins. But when we tell the lie, it is difficult

to remember exactly what was said before. It is the snowball effect,

the mischief and trouble just keep growing and growing, the hole just

keeps getting deeper and deeper. Do the right thing. Stay on the right

path. Tell the truth.

“When we tell the truth, we do not have to remember

what we said before because the truth is in us.”

                                        Mark Twain

You can get the International bestseller The Shi*t I Wished I learned in College here:

 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C5FMWDGW