“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.”
~ Oscar Wilde
In an article in USA Today (5 August 2012), Sharon Jayson reports on findings that “honesty may boost your health.” In fact, according to a study at the University of Notre Dame, just telling fewer white lies will benefit you both physically and mentally.
Think about the way both relaxation and stress affect your health. We know that stress lowers our immune response and raises our blood pressure. Fortunately, we also understand how relaxation boosts both our immune response (T-cells) and our sense of well-being.
Think of honesty as being kind rather than brutal, and more accurate than inaccurate—taking into account more of the bigger picture. Dishonesty can be described as communication which is disrespectful to the speaker or the listener—with or without downright lies. Dishonest communication is very stressful within.
Here is a link to the article: http://usat.ly/Mbr6Q6 and a recap of the study:
Half of the group were given specific instructions: tell no lies for any reason to anyone.
For 10 weeks, both groups took a lie detector test with questions focused on major and minor lies they had told in the previous week. Each also completed a health assessment.
When those in the no-lie group told three fewer lies than in other weeks, they also reported fewer mental and physical complaints including feeling tense or melancholy and having sore throats or headaches.
You can easily understand why it is stressful to be dishonest with another, but it is of huge importance to be aware that it is most stressful to be dishonest with ourselves. Recently I read how one can think about being dishonest about anything as betraying yourself—far from avoiding betrayal, when a person is dishonest with another about anything, by betraying him- or herself, he or she is simply making a choice whom to betray.
This week remember that Thomas Jefferson said honesty is the first chapter of the book wisdom. We now can see honesty may very well also be the first chapter in the book of health!
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Rev. Debra Basham Voice: (269) 921-2217 Email: debra@scs-matters.com https://scs-matters.com http://ImagineHealing.info http://SurgicalSupport.infoSmall Changes … Infinite Results™“If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.” ~Mother TeresaTips from 5 April 2010 to 6 August 2012 are here: Archived Tips |