Doc’s In
No Lie
Think about the last time someone started a sentence with, “I have to be honest with you.” Did anything come next that made you feel good? Or were the words critical?
I can guess the answer. “I need to be honest” is code for this is going to suck and you won’t want to hear it.
Similarly, we say, “Be honest with yourself” to denote hard, unpleasant truths. When we talk about being honest with ourselves, what we are really talking about is difficult internal work.
It’s a funny observation that honesty has such painful connotations. Why should telling the truth be painful?
Bad Company
Positive influences matter for all kinds of reasons, and many of us put effort into cultivating them. But not everyone in our life is a great role model.
Family members, coworkers, neighbors, people in our social circle—there are always a few whose choices and patterns make you think, yikes, not good.
These people can be surprisingly helpful to us too, but in a different way. Call it the negative example.
For every person we look up to for her patience, courage or warmth, there’s someone whose greed, pettiness or misaligned priorities show us what to avoid.
While our instinct is to turn away, there’s value in paying attention to these examples. Not to emulate them, not to judge them, but to learn from the consequences.
Take A Hike
Sitting down to write this, I struggled with ideas. I stared at the blinking cursor, feeling it mock me. I wracked my brain for something—anything—to hold onto.
Several half-formed ideas raced around my head, but grabbing one and putting it down into words was elusive. Feeling stuck, I got up, put on my coat, and took a walk around McKinley Park.
It was late afternoon. The light was fading, the wind blowing. By the time I returned a half-hour later, I had three coherent, almost finished essays floating in mind.
