#truth #falsehoods #DisturbingImages #opinions #facts
Sometimes, one has to see or hear the worst to learn how bad things happen.
An ad for diabetes awareness shows three stages: illness, disability and death. The narrator says, when death is shown, “Too much? That’s the point.”
In the true-story movie “Till,” currently showing in theaters, Emmett Till’s mother insists that her son’s dead body be shown in its entirety after his lynching, to illustrate what those who lynched him in Mississippi did to him before they killed him.
Some TV news clips may be preceded by the broadcaster telling the audience something like: the images you are about to see may be disturbing. Some even advise you to take young children out of the room before viewing. Some even spell out what you are about to see, to allow the viewers to decide whether to watch.
The main point is that sometimes, seeing things we’d rather not look at is necessary to know the true story, instead of some sanitized or varnished view of a story.
So, why is that? Can’t one just let his or her imagination determine how bad something looks? Often, leaving things to one’s imagination creates a vacuum, a place in which falsehoods can reside masquerading as truths.
Not showing EVERYTHING, no matter how bad or disgusting, can be a form of cover-up.
The images may be disturbing, but often, we need to be disturbed. Certainly, there are things that are not suitable for young children to see. They need to mature before being acquainted with some of the nastiness of life.
A good rule of thumb might be: if the activities of humans create the disturbing images, and the images are not altered for extra drama, they probably should be shown.
If people are doing bad things to other people, they need to be shown.
In the hardened modern world, disturbing images don’t always alter opinions. Even the most verified information can be called false, even if it’s true, because certain people want others to think it is false.
The same actually goes for falsehoods. If someone wants people to think something that is false is true, he or she can keep showing or saying it, and, eventually, some will indeed think it is true. But, repeating something false never makes it true.
We can’t always persuade, but if truth is on one’s side, keep showing or saying it.
Truth can not only be disturbing, it can be inconvenient, to borrow from former U.S. Vice President Al Gore.
But, if truth is on one’s side, timing should be irrelevant. Ramifications should not be the primary consideration, even though, in some cases, thought should be given to those ramifications.
Of course, in political campaigns, timing is everything. But, again, in our hardened, opinionated world, timing matters less and less.
When in doubt, if one possesses the truth, it’s better to say it or show it when one knows it – at least in important matters. Perhaps, in trivial matters, things might be better left unsaid, or not shown.
The truth may not always set one free. But, more often than not, truth is always better said or shown, rather than concealed.
Peter
Tag Archives: opinions
SECRET OF SUCCESS? MAKING UP ONE’S MIND
Many of us look at people we deem successful and believe we cannot be like them.
Either we believe our circumstances are holding us down, or we believe we are not as smart as successful people are or that luck is not on our side.
Rory Vaden, co-founder of Southwest Consulting, spoke to one of the most successful people he knows, Spencer Hays, founder of Tom James fine clothing and executive chairman of The Southwestern Co. Vaden discussed that conversation in a column in the June 28, 2015, edition of The Tennessean newspaper in Nashville.
According to Vaden, Hays believes that success is simply a choice. It’s the choice to do whatever it takes – or not – to be successful.
To most of us, that’s a very simplistic answer. We all would choose success over failure. But it’s not a matter of wanting success in the abstract. It’s a matter of defining success in one’s own mind, and going out and getting it.
In other words, make up your mind to be successful and do what you need to do.
Vaden said the idea of making up one’s mind to be successful was the one thing that Hays said that struck him in his conversation.
It appears to many that making up one’s mind to be successful is very difficult. How many people do you know start something and give up without finishing it, especially when things got tough? These people wanted to be successful at the beginning, but later discovered that what they had to do to get there was not worth the effort or the sacrifice.
An idea has to travel from one’s head, to one’s heart, to one’s gut. When one finds what he wants to do, he does what he needs to do to accomplish it, no matter what happens.
Another scenario: how many people do you know who had a goal, but listened to those who told him he could never accomplish it? The naysayers believe they mean well, and some actually do. But the successful person believes more in what he wants to achieve than he does others’ opinions of him or his goal.
We can certainly find people who might tell the person who lost a job that it was his own fault. Most of us have circumstances we can’t control. Those are not important. What’s important is how we respond when those circumstances hit.
We can complain, and convince ourselves that the world is against us. Or, we can look for something that will give us the motivation we need to conquer our circumstances.
A third scenario: a person has the motivation, work ethic and has made up his mind to be successful. He just needs a vehicle to help him find success. If you are one of those, visit www.bign.com/pbilodeau. It’s one of many, and one of the best, such vehicles for personal success and for helping others find success.
Choosing success is not like choosing from a restaurant menu. You can’t just say you want something and someone else is going to bring it to you. Choosing success is choosing to do what you need to do, regardless of whom or what surrounds you. It’s about believing in your goal, and pursuing it above all other things – except family and friends.
It’s having faith in what you know is good, regardless of what others think. If you choose success, you’ve chosen wisely.
Peter