Be Honest

Last week I had the opportunity to see Queen Latifah interviewed at a local University where I stay. She was down to earth and humble, she also had some very good life tips she shared with the audience. The three tips were perseverance, be honest with yourself, and find the people that are most honest with you and stick with them. Out of those three tips the first one that stuck out to me was to be honest with yourself. Sometimes you have to have that pep talk with yourself on various decisions you make within your life. There will be times when many things will also influence your decisions like television, social media, or what your friend might be doing. You have to remember that you are your own person and you were fearfully and wonderfully made by God to be something that nobody else can be. Isn't that just lovely to think about and to let soak in. To really embrace that you are your own person is a process and it is a journey, but that is the beauty of it all. While in the mirror you can speak affirmations over yourself that can make your self-esteem go up. Being honest with yourself does not always have to be painful, but it can be an epiphany moment to where you start believing in yourself much more than you did before.

The second one was to have honest people in your corner. When I want to ask an opinion on something that I may be going through or maybe a choice I am considering making I call the people that are going to shoot it to me straight and not play games. Everyone should have at least one person in their corner that will be able to let you know about yourself in a way that will not always hurt your feelings, but you know it is coming from a genuine place. If there is nobody that you can think of that could be honest with you then there may be some rearranging you need to do. I believe it is also the key to Queen Latifah's successful path. She stated she always had people that would be honest with her within her circle and it helped a lot with the strategic decisions she made to become who she is today.

There is also an ugly side to being honest with someone. Sometimes people don't want to hear what you have to say even if they asked you your opinion. It can turn people from wanting to hear what you have to say, to them downing the honesty that's coming from you and you alone. Don't allow this to keep your mouth shut. There has to be a thick skin formed within the world today because there are many platforms that allow people to comment on what you do and sometimes not be so nice about it. Just because someone may not like what you do or say, does not mean that they are not paying attention to what you do or say. Be honest with yourself even when nobody else is.