“Don't bend; don't water it down; don't try to make it logical; don't edit your own soul according to the fashion. Rather, follow your most intense obsessions mercilessly.” ― Franz Kafka
Being a frank and authentic individual is not always the easiest thing in the world... My inability to filter certain thoughts and/or opinions has often gotten me into trouble over the years as well as in the middle of some rather heated discussions and situations hahaha!
I definitely don’t do this with the intention of creating tension or being offensive to anyone – the fact of the matter is that I am just blatantly candid, have a very low tolerance for pretentious people and have absolutely no time for plastic pleasantries”. I am a great believer in “saying it like it is” - whether the information suits the recipient or not… and this most often doesn’t go down very well, earning me labels like “stuck up” or “B*tchy”. Which really isn’t true – I am actually a very nice person, I promise. Hehehe ;) (Stick around, I will prove it)
You see the thing about truth and honesty is that most of the time people don’t actually like it, nor do they want to hear it. They will often say they do, but the truth of the matter is, they like the concept of honesty and that is pretty much where it ends. Everybody LOVES honest people until they are on the receiving end of that knowledge.
Authentically honest people are often VERY quickly labelled as “loud mouths” or are perhaps referred to as people with “no filter”. In my case, I would say that I definitely do have a filter for certain things and this has improved somewhat with age and what I would like to believe is maturity – but I am still very cutthroat when it comes to delivering information to those that I care about. I just simply don’t sugar coat sh1t! If someone has a booger in their nose, or spinach between their teeth you can be damn sure I will be the person that tells them about it instead of letting them walk around with it all day lol!
I enjoy brutally authentic people! We are real – and at worst, worth a good giggle when certain “inapt, unfiltered” truths are divulged – as for the rest of the time, at least you know where you really stand with us and you are bound to get some very useful understandings – if you open your mind to them.
To be quite frank (see what I did there hehehe) I would much rather live with the labels, the stares of horror and the raised eyebrows, because I know that I am true to myself and real to others – at least for a greater part of the time hahaha. I stand strong in the benefits of this character quality. Existing as a truly honest individual sets you apart simply because you hold a completely unique perspective on life, people and circumstance. You view things from a totally different angle and you develop an ability to “cut through the crap” seeing (and voicing) things as they REALLY are – which in turn gives you the ability to problem solve VERY efficiently.
Irrespective of the fact that the advice, information or opinions offered by blunt individuals is not always very delicately conveyed or warmly received, I can assure you that it is almost always shared with the best of intentions. Sometimes it takes a little while for the person receiving the information to process and accept it, but 99% of the time, once they have – they realise that the ruthless delivery was done with the purpose of enabling growth... and because your care for them is completely genuine.
If you ask me, the worst kind of “dishonesty” and perhaps the most common, is the lies which people tell themselves - Especially when it comes to “self-talk”. People do this so frequently that they often start to believe the internal justifications – deluding themselves into many potentially negative positions. This is a LOT more common than people realise and is PRECISELY when it is beneficial for a blatantly honest person to step in and wake them up... OR for them to start being honest with themselves - by themselves! Quite frankly, I think the world could do with a few more truly honest people – then perhaps others would start removing their rose tinted glasses and stop living in complete avoidance of truth.
In summation - Honesty builds respect and trust. People will learn that they can always rely on you to have their best interests at heart. When you live in constant denial of “truth”, you create what is referred to as “emotional garbage” – being consistently honest allows you to get rid of that garbage and live more “freely”.
Until next time...
Much Love from Cape Town, South Africa xxx
@zord189
