Western Walkabout: Telling The Truth
Richard Harris offers congratulations and encouragement to the guy in the mirror.
To read more of Richard’s wonderfully varied articles and stories please click on http://www.openwriting.com/archives/western_walkabout/
When I was a boy, my father, fresh home from the World War and full of ideals for a brave new world, used to admonish me, “Speak the truth, and fear no man.”
When I became a parent, I used to tell my son “You will never be punished in this house for speaking the truth.”
That truly was terrible advice. He would say things with a blinding truthfulness that many people, including schoolteachers, simply could not handle.
“You need to speak to your boy,” one teacher told me. “He does not have the standards of the community.”
Now that I am older and more street-wise, and my father has been dead for many years, I have become an accomplished liar and this way have helped avoid much pain for others, including myself.
For instance, in the morning, I say to the guy in the mirror, “You are a very good runner and I am very pleased with you.”
He beams back at me and promises to do his training faithfully. He seldom does. A few years ago, at the National Masters Games in Perth, he came fifth in a field of five in his age group.
I said to him, “You ran really well. Congratulations.” He grinned.
I said, “I am thinking of rewarding you with a nice lunch.”
I had his attention immediately. “How does a chicken salad sound – at the Caffe Bookshop?” That’s his favorite watering hole.
So, in this atmosphere of sincere congratulations, based on persistence rather than performance, we get on really well – the guy in the mirror and me. And I keep him at his running.
The truth of the matter is that he is bald, missing an ear, and past his use-by date but I love him and have promised to look after him. No doubt he will get even slower. I plan to keep him going with a little bit of truth, but not too much.
Happy running – I’ll see you at the finish.
