Drop the Act!

I’m not against facelifts and other such improvements that we might come to need for one reason or another. As a matter of fact, I’m planning on having a crown replaced on a tooth that got eaten up by cavities. So sometimes you might need something fake to cover up for the lack of a natural one. What I don’t appreciate is a lack of sincerity and honesty in dealing with others. Now I know we all have things to hide and sometimes the truth is too embarrassing or too harsh for us to share but as much as we can I think we owe it to others and ourselves to always be true. I’m not giving you a license to be ruthless and insensitive in the name of telling the truth. We should definitely have empathy and emotional intelligence as we relate with others but at no time should we deal falsely with another human being.

Loyalty is such an admirable quality in people. A husband who is true to his wife, a friend who is glad for another or a sibling who looks out for another. We all long for true and honest relationships where we don’t have to keep guessing where we stand or if we can rely on them. My experience is that such relationships are built over time and that they happen organically. God decides where he places us and whom we will meet as a result of where we find ourselves then we cultivate the relationships that he brings into our lives. There are certain relationships that we need to be willing to let go of and others that we need to grow and nature. Relationships don’t always last a life time, some are for a certain season of your life, maybe for the duration of your stay at a certain workplace or neighborhood or social group.

I have found that I greatly value relationships where I feel genuinely loved and appreciated. The ones where I feel accepted and treated as an equal. Nobody enjoys a relationship where suspicion and mistrust are the order of the day or one where the moods are so fragile and you constantly have to live on the verge of conflict. I also appreciate relationships where I can be myself and not have to act or put up a front. The ones where the other person knows whether or not I can afford to eat at a particular restaurant or where they know exactly where I live and how much I pay in rent. These are the kinds of relationships that we all need in life, the kind where others are aware of our general circumstances in a way that helps them appreciate and respond to our challenges.

Truth is you can’t have this kind of relationship with everyone. You can’t be friends with your entire neighborhood or office block. It’s just not possible to connect with so many people on such a deep level. So treasure the few that God brings around you and drop the act.