The Truth and Nothing But the Truth

Give people the unvarnished truth, tell them like it is. Surely you’ve heard this line of reasoning before. What do you think when you hear it? For many people the response causes them to cringe, here’s why.

Each and every day you are most likely doing many things of value that make this world a better place. Unfortunately, our society has conditioned most people to only “tell the truth” as it relates to bad news or what a person is not doing right. Ken Blanchard tells a great story in the book he co-authored called “Whale Done.” A character in the book asks an audience of workers what happens at work when they do something wrong? They all answer that they get some sort of punishment. They are then asked what happens when they do something right? There is a long silence and then someone speaks up and says: “nothing…nothing happens.” Most of us have been conditioned to speak and tell the truth when people screw up and say nothing when they do well.

Think about that for a moment.

Most of us have been conditioned to speak and tell the truth when people screw up and say nothing when they do well.

Is this the sort of environment you had envisioned for your home and marriage when you were dating?

Unfortunately, the work environment has a major impact on how we act at home with our spouse and it’s vital for us to develop the habits of making the home a “haven” - a safe place where people can recharge and be refreshed.

It’s hardly refreshing when the only “truth” we hear in our homes from our spouse and family members is when we act like normal humans and make mistakes, yet receive silence when we do positive things that contribute to make life better.

Now...go tell someone you care about “the truth!”