Although the press is having a FIELD DAY skewering NYC congressman, Anthony Weiner, the situation brings up something that pretty much EVERY person in the public eye may face–a dicey situation coming up in the press and our decision to lie and hope it goes away or to tell the truth and face a potentially career-ending public shaming (not to mention the effect it will have on those we love).

I’m not saying everyone has something to hide, but it was fascinating, yesterday, watching Weiner’s press conference where he came clean and took responsibility for all that he had done. He held himself up to the press, his constituents, and everyone else who happened to be watching TV when every other show got preempted for his press conference, and did what I, personally, think is an extremely admirable thing: he told the truth.

I’m not saying I agree with his choice to behave badly toward his wife (I don’t, at all!), and I’m not saying that I think it’s okay that by choosing to lie and hoping it would go away, it wasted HOURS of news time (here in NYC, anyway) while every facet of the lie was made into separate (and equally untrue) stories.

But it does bring up an extremely important thing for anyone in the public eye to consider–if you had to choose between lying to save your career (knowing the lies may catch up with you in the end) or choosing to tell the truth so that you can live with yourself, which would you choose?

Considering that MOST people who end up with some degree of fame have racked up a few things in their closet that the general public would label “skeletons,” it really is a question you should be asking yourself, if you haven’t already. Can you claim everything you have done in your life and be okay with it if someone in the “public” finds out about it?

I have to say, it takes COURAGE to be completely honest. Especially when the stakes are so high that your career may go straight into the toilet. Anthony Weiner may be feeling like he made a terrible mistake by telling the truth, while every newscaster in the NYC area speculates about how he could “NEVER run for Mayor of NYC now!”

But I will tell you one thing, I am sure the part of him that was never comfortable lying in the first place is relieved. As long as the lies are out of the way, things can be healed.

Yes, he may lose his family and his career, but the one thing he can remind himself now is that, after his admissions yesterday, his own self-respect is back where it should be. And accepting himself as he is right now and taking responsibility for all that has happened is, I believe, the bravest thing anyone can do. (Which is why MOST people DON’T do it!)

What about you? Which would you do? Would you choose to live a life full of lies or would you tell the truth? It’s something to think about–especially if you’re in a position where the press might force it out of you one of these days.

The thing is, when we do tell the truth, and accept responsibility, we also open the door to forgiveness–of ourselves by ourselves and by those who care about us. Some people really care more about their career and public image than entertaining the idea of letting it all go and opening up to self-forgiveness. But for those who really DO want to be able to look themselves in the eye when they look in the mirror and those who want to be able to sleep at night with a clean conscience, the truth is the only thing that will ever truly get us there.

Tags: Anthony Weiner, congress, congressman, facebook, public scrutiny, twitter, Weiner, Weinergate

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 7th, 2011 at 1:01 pm and is filed under Relationships, Self-Esteem, Social Pressure. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.