However, this pain only occurs because some form of dishonesty created the original problem in the first place, and either way, in the longer term, honesty wins out in the end. The pain will not last.

In a dark world of lies, people like this are the light. You can feel it in their presence. They are a breath of fresh air, an oasis of trustworthiness, transparency and candour that puts everyone else to shame. I can’t always tell when someone is lying to me, but I know for certain when I’m in the presence of a deeply honest and shameless person.

We live in a globally connected community, and we’re surrounded by actively dishonest people. There’s a distinct lack of living by ethical values. We are lied to daily by marketers, politicians, news media, religions, and even by our friends, workmates, and family. To stand up against this tidal wave of deceit — to speak the truth and to act accord

Choose one thing you’re deeply ashamed of and admit it to someone who you know will judge you for it. Repeat this exercise every week for the rest of your life until there’s nothing left to hide.

You need to own who you are, in all it’s beauty and ugliness, and the way to do this is to be so ridiculously, shamelessly, ruthlessly honest that no one ever has a chance to embarass you.

Honesty is the path to shamelessness, and shamelessness is the core ingredient of self-confidence.

They were on the fence, and then her shame confirmed their suspicions that she’d done something ‘wrong’, so they tipped over into disgust instead of respect.

You’ll discover that when your family or other loved ones are stuck in their ways, trying to change their minds is a waste of effort. You’re better off putting that energy toward coming to a respectful agreement about acceptance and boundaries.

An acceptance invitation is giving someone you love the best possible opportunity to accept you as you are, while supporting them through it. They don’t have to agree with you, they just have to accept you. You remove all pressure on them to agree with you or to change their own behaviour.