Just Be Honest.

Yes, being honest is not always easy, but it is better. It saves you time and energy and life is much more simple. Being honest with yourself and others is one of the best habits to have in life. Honesty and straightforwardness is appreciated in the professional world and I'm sure that if you asked someone close to you for their opinion, you'd want it to be an honest one, right? 

Now I am not vouching for perfection here, nobody is 100% honest all of the time. We are not superheroes. But what I am vouching for, is an awareness of how honest we are with ourselves and others.

To be honest, we must first value honesty. We must believe that it will improve our lives. Why do I value honesty?

1 It allows me to discover who I truly am and what my desires are

2 I have formed deeper connections with people

3 I have found freedom in being the rawest, realest version of myself, letting go of the expectation's that others have of me

Now before I continue, I want to illustrate something (It will make more sense later)

The thoughts we think

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The way we feel

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The way we speak and act  

The point of this illustration is to show that everything starts with the way we think. Now there is no need to force ourselves to change the way we think. Start by simply being aware of the way you think of yourself. Sometimes just observing our thought patterns and noticing their negative effects is enough to make us want to change.

It's not about decreasing your dishonest thoughts, but increasing the honest ones. If you simply focus on strengthening an honest relationship with yourself, it will naturally cause anything that is false and meaningless to lose its power, validity and affect on your feelings and actions. 

So I challenge you to raise your awareness and ask yourself these questions.

1 What are my thoughts/my inner dialogue? What is true? What do I tell myself that isn't true? 

We often tell ourselves things that aren't true without realizing it- these thoughts come from a place of fear. For example, we are afraid that people won't accept us for who we really are so we say mean things about ourselves- these thoughts are not true!

2 How do I really feel right now?

3 How do I act and what do I say to others? Is it a true reflection of who I am?

A famous quote says, "Be a first rate version of yourself, not a second rate version of someone else." Why? Because it saves energy and makes you feel more real and alive. Sounds very simple. But with society expecting us to be and act a certain way, we sometimes lose sight of ourselves. So be YOU, and I promise you, it will feel better knowing that the people in your life respect you for who you truly are.

And this is the really amazing thing: when you become completely honest with yourself, being honest with others is a whole lot easier. 

Blessings,

Julie