One of my tasks at the end of 2008 was to choose a word that encapsulated my intent for the coming year. The way I “chose” a word was simply to watch what arose. Then I sat with the word for a while to see if it fit, or if something else arose.
The word that came up for me was “honesty.”
What does “honesty” mean? For me, it includes mindfulness; perhaps the best summary is “clear seeing.” To me, being honest means seeing what is actually true, and to be clear about the difference between what is true and what I want to be true.
I was asked whether I was talking about deception. My answer was “no, deception was not an issue for me.”
Inevitably, if I see what is actually true, and sees how that differs from what I wish, I will sometimes discover self-deception. However, the focus is on seeing clearly, and if that seeing includes seeing self-deception, well, so what? That’s just another thing to see.
Seeing clearly can bring pain, as it highlights how reality differs from how I want things to be. And that difference leads to the need to make decisions.
I’ll be revisiting this issue in future posts.
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