Honesty

 

Honesty

May 19, 2024

Grandpa Bruce Randall

 

Hello to all my Grandchildren,

I wrote an e-mail to your parents asking them if I could send an email to my grandchildren. I want to share my thoughts on certain subjects that I think would be good for you to hear in today's society. There are many voices that are vying for your attention. Many of those voices do not share the information necessary for you to live your life in the best possible manner.

So, I decided that I wanted you to hear from me. I am certainly not the most knowledgeable person about each of these characteristics that I want to share with you on a regular basis but at least you will know how your grandfather feels about these things. And I think each subject that I address is important enough to address.

Occasionally you may need a dictionary but since your grandfather is not that eloquent you will not need one very often.

 

Honesty

Some of you might have thought that my first subject might be integrity because I seem to talk about that quite a bit with some of my grandchildren. But I decided I would start with honesty.

Grandpa’s views of a few important characteristics of honesty: 

  • Always tell the truth.
  • You need to learn what the truth is, before you can tell it.
  • Never try to deceive people.
  • Obey the laws and the rules of the institutions you belong to.
  • Be honest with yourself. (really look at yourself to see if what you are doing is a good or bad thing)
  • Just because it is true from your point of view, does not mean you have to say it. (someone’s hair may look terrible, you really do not need to tell them that…)

Real-Life Example

Grammy’s First Painting

Grammy started oil painting when your parents were still young. She needed some time of her own and she wanted to try oil painting. She found a local gifted art teacher and once a week she would go for four hours to her painting class. She took many months to finish her first painting and she was very excited to show it to me. I was excited to see it, but I was also a little bit nervous. I knew that when I saw it for the first time both my physical reaction and my words would carry a lot of meaning for her. I tried to produce different words or phrases I could say, like: “how beautiful the paint brush strokes looked,” if I really didn’t think it was that good. I knew that I would not be able to hide my true feelings about how I felt about it so I looked for positive things I could pick out about it (if necessary) that would be honest.

When I saw the painting for the first time, I could see that she had done an exceptional job (from my point of view) for her first painting. I was totally excited to share with Grammy how wonderful I thought the picture looked.

Summary: Grammy knows I will not lie to her. Grammy also knows that she may not like what I have to say, but she can trust me to be honest with her, and with others. Honesty is one of the basic foundational values and characteristics upon which our marriage is founded.


Grammy's First Oil Painting Picture (as talked about in the example above)

Grammy Randall's First Oil Painting - Date: 1987-1988?


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Courage

Image
Well, here we are again. This month, Grandpa is going to focus on the character trait called "courage". Courage is a very worthwhile trait to have. Here are a few definitions of courage that I like. "mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty" We also use the word "Brave" (like Easton's middle name) when we speak of courage. We often say, "they are a very courageous person", or "what you are doing is very brave". We also speak of a specific act, like a "one-time event" as being a courageous act.  I would like to share with you a few short examples of what I think courage looks like. Later, I will give you the bigger examples of courage and bravery I have seen in my life, or the lives of others. Grandpa's short examples of what is a courageous act or person. When a person does not want to do something because they are afraid, yet they decide to do it anyway. When a person ...
Read more

Gratitude

Image
Hello again to all my Grandchildren, I have been having feelings of gratitude lately, so because it was on my mind, and because I haven't shared about gratitude yet, I feel to do so now. Meaning: Gratitude , by my definition is:  to give thanks and to show appreciation.   The attitude of gratitude! (it should be a good attitude by the way) I feel like gratitude is a piece of all of the characteristics I write about. Thus, gratitude is another very important characteristic to acquire in each of your lives. Here are some of the reasons why I believe being thankful (or, gratitude) is important in your life and how having an "attitude of gratitude" can help you be a better person here on this earth. Characteristics of Gratitude It's kind to do   - When you say "thank you" for something that someone gives you, or for something they have done for you, you are being kind. Not only is it being kind, but it also shows the other person that you appreciate their act or...
Read more

Accountability

Image
Hello again Grandchildren! This month I have decided to talk about the character trait of "Accountability". This trait is a little hard to describe so I will be using a few examples to help you understand what I think accountability means. First I will put in the definition below - and we will go from there. Accountability Defined - According to Grandpa Accountability is:   "An obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one's actions, including your words and your thoughts." I believe being accountable is a great character trait to have in your life. It is not always easy to  take full responsibility for your thoughts, words, and actions, but it is always the right thing to do. The best path of accountability is to be "willing" to be accountable. You are normally not forced by someone else to be accountable. You want to be the type of person who willingly accepts full responsibility for your thoughts, words, and actions. This ...
Read more