I have been thinking about this Studio30 Plus writing prompt since it went up this week. I have been stumped by how I would approach it. But alas, it was time to write or quit, and I am no quitter so here you have it.
This week's writing prompt is "'Integrity is telling myself the truth. And honesty is telling the truth to other people' - Spencer Johnson"
I saw a Twitter quote today that read “There is no time like the present to erase your past”. I could not disagree with this statement more strongly. To erase my past, to deny what brought me to today, to pretend that there is no context surrounding who I am at this moment is lying to myself.
Spencer Johnson said “Integrity is telling myself the truth. And honesty is telling the truth to other people.” How could I ever have integrity or share honesty if I deny myself my past?
There are plenty of moments in my life that I would like to have had the foresight to prevent, but to erase the fact that they happened afterwards? No. If I were to do that, I would be denying myself the knowledge of experience that I have now. Essentially I would be blinding my foresight that I could apply in future situations and really setting myself up for more missteps.
Integrity, telling myself the truth, is me acknowledging my actions. There is no one to blame or praise but myself. Sure, people have contributed to situations, pleasure or pain, joy or hurt, but no one has lived those moments but me. No one has felt those feelings as I have. No one has learned the lessons of my life but me. To lie to myself is futile. To try to erase those moments is impossible.
Honesty, telling the truth to other people, is me being accountable for myself. It’s not for someone to pass judgment, offer opinion, or question my experiences. Although many times that is exactly what happens when I share my truth with someone. But to erase that truth, to offer nothing but a blank slate or some fictional account of who I am and what I’ve done? How would that make me any more valuable to anyone else?
I live in reality. I tell myself the truth even if I don’t like it. I tell my truth to other people even if they don’t want to hear it. I will not erase my past, today or any day.
