“You can’t hand the truth”.
Said Jack Nicholson’s character Col. Nathan R. Jessup to Tom Crusie’s character Lt. Daniel Kaffee in the 1992 film ‘A Few Good Men’.
And it’s true.
For the majority of our lives we humans shy away from the cold, hard truths.
We learn as small children that making excuse makes the current situation a little easier.
“The dog ate my homework” (or slightly more plausible variation) will get an easier to handle response than “I couldn’t be bothered to do my homework”.
“She started it” is much easier to say than “I haven’t learned how to manage my emotions properly yet”.
But the short term benefit of these excuses becomes outweighed by the long term disadvantages.
We get dis-empowered.
We get used to justifying our own actions or inactions by blaming something or somebody else.
Realising this is a huge Step 1 in getting our lives on track.
The truth will set you free.
Next time you find yourself blaming something you have little or no control over for something that’s happened, then stop.
Take a moment.
Re-phrase the same thing with the parts of the problem you DO have control over.
“There was nothing healthy at the canteen / shop” becomes:
“I didn’t plan ahead and make sure I had healthy food with me”.
“I didn’t have time to do my workout” become:
“I chose to spend too much time on Facebook / watching TV / checking email / chatting to friends to get all the important stuff done in time to go for my workout”.
“Healthy living is too expensive” becomes:
“I’m choosing to spend the money I do have on other stuff, rather than my health”.
“I needed a drink after that day” becomes:
“I’m choosing to take a drug rather than do something else that will make me feel better”.
And so on.
You get the idea.
An ‘ugly truth’ is better than a ‘beautiful lie’.
Give it a go.
See if you continue on the same path when you’ve reframed these things in your head.
I doubt you will.
As I said, the truth will set you free 🙂
Much love,
Jon ‘Truth Commission’ Hall and Matt ‘I want the truth’ Nicholson
