Who’s Telling the Truth? – it’s a question asked among Kansans so it is worth sharing the practical ideas found in Russ Gerber’s article in Psychology Today on establishing an outlook of trust. Please consider the excerpt below then follow the link at the end to continue reading the complete article.
It’s a question that keeps crossing my mind as I scan the news. Do I believe the politicians I’m reading about, or the news anchor, or the sports figures, or the celebrity, or the health claims? Am I getting an honest view? How long until someone sifts through the allegations and evidence and comes to a conclusion? When will we get to the bottom of this?
When such questions came up in the past I thought my options were minimal. Basically, wait. Wait for some authority in the outside world – an investigator, an insider, a judge – to take the sum of current knowledge and make a final determination. In the meantime, internally I would speculate, criticize, pity, feel resentment. Even when the reports I was reading were top caliber (my days working with The Christian Science Monitor kept the bar of credibility high), I often felt I was just marking time until all facts were out in the open.
But while an honest investigation of facts and due process need to run their course, that doesn’t mean our thoughts about it have no consequence.
What we think shapes who we are, and what we do. Whatever has an impact on us has an impact on our everyday lives, and ultimately on society. That’s important to remember. There’s actually an enormous potential for doing good, and it doesn’t have to wait.
Where to begin? With ourselves…