True Eyes

True Eyes Having true eyes means putting what is true ahead of what you think or what you want to think. One example is my father teaching me the importance of having a great credit rating. Since that went along with “your word is your bond,” I held to that until I read in the Bible that we are to owe no man. Since God is who I worship, I now owe no man. I still hold to my dad’s example that my word is my bond. And in honoring what God said to do, I’m also honoring my father by putting what God said above all else. This concept will help you with everything from how to conduct your life to cleaning out a closet. For example, at work one day I got tired of how some people were constantly spreading gossip. So I decided that every time somebody came to me with gossip, I would try to say something good about the person who is being gossiped about. People soon stop passing gossip along to you because you’re no fun. Then I decided to go a step further and do good gossiping. If I saw people do a kind deed or go an extra mile when they thought nobody was aware, I would pass it on (unless I knew it was personal). I know this sounds goody-goody but when you go up to people you don’t like and compliment them on something good they did, it’s hard. But it changes you. That’s how I learned that when you give up a part of yourself, you gain even more. When you cut dead flowers off a bush, it puts out new shoots. This is different from being a kind and considerate person. Sometimes it’s hard to see with true eyes. Sometimes you have to get over yourself first. This really got me thinking about other bad habits that we have that we may not even be aware of—like giving advice that no one asked for. When you’re over forty and have so much life experience, it’s hard not to share advice when so many people need it. I decided to go one day without giving anyone advice. A piece of cake right? Wrong! I was shocked at myself. So I thought about it with true eyes and realized that by dropping that part of me, I could treasure it and take more time with people when they come to me for my advice or an opinion. Ironically, that happened more often when I learned to back off from myself. It’s smart to realize when you’re doing a dumb thing. With true eyes, you have to be honest at all times—with yourself and with others. Being a woman from the South, I was raised to try to never hurt anybody’s feelings. If someone called me when I had just been asleep an hour after working the graveyard shift, and that person asked me if I was asleep, I would say “no”. But true eyes keep me honest. Do you want people to be honest with you? Then you have to be honest with them.