I’ve mentioned before that I have a lot of books.

A good percentage of my books are nonfiction…and a good number of those are self-improvement books.

Who wouldn’t feel like there was something in their life that needed some improvement?

Why not work at being better if some book might help you along?  Like anything being sold…you have to make sure that there’s a strong need to sell your product.  Most people have needs…it’s an easy sell.

But the thing about need is that it’s not always real…my wants and my needs run together without much awareness or effort on my part.  Most of the time, I don’t know where one starts and the other begins.

I used to feel that I needed to be up front at every altar call.  Until I started to figure out that my efforts would never be enough…and that I needed to settle down and just relax a little…and trust a lot more…I always wanted to make that long walk to the front of the church. I guess that’s where faith comes in…and ego flies away.  It’s just another part of my self-depracating nature, I suppose.

If I went into the book store and asked for the self-delusion section, they probably wouldn’t know what I was talking about. If I started to try to identify the section that held the books that described a problem that, until I really examined things, I didn’t know I had…and that promised a solution that would help other people to like me…and maybe help me like myself again….the book sellers might steer me down the right aisle.

“You know…the self-delusion section.. oh, you call it the self-improvement section?”

The reason I titled this post “honesty is dangerous” is because I’m realizing that unless honesty (and conviction, too….it’s really about conviction) is pinned to something with a strong and true foundation…it’s probably one of the most dangerous traits we have.

Some of the people I know have great conviction that’s veered off into wacky directions.

I’ve noticed that the confidence they deliver their wackiness with has a big bearing on how it’s perceived.  A strong and confident delivery can be kind of seductive…”oh…wellllllll….maybe you’re right?!  WHAT CHARISMA YOU HAVE, WHACKO!!”

You have to make sure the thing you’ve chosen to be honest about…and the thing you base your deepest convictions on…is true.  It can’t be something that’s defined by someone else’s volcanic or demanding reactions…it can’t be something that some TV personality told you is the “way to live”…it can’t be accessorized with the latest new thing.

I don’t have many answers for myself…I have a few strong convictions…and I think I have a good idea about what truth is…but I don’t have a lot of words that I can spew out to support what I believe.

(If you’re reading this, you’re probably thinking, “OH, REALLY!!!  THEN WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING FOR THE LAST 487 WORDS?”)

I guess that what I’m stumbling around is that there can be a big chasm between honesty and conviction…and truth.

I hope that I’m standing on the same side of the canyon.  It would be nice to be in alignment with my beliefs.

No matter what some book tells me is the right side to be on.