Of all the human events, betrayal, I believe, is one of the most painful. You put your trust in an individual and that individual acts with deception and betrays you. I've had this experience in my life, and I never realized until I experienced that how painful betrayal is.
I don't think one can avoid betrayal that happens to them, but I do think that sometimes good people can fall into the trap of betraying others without truly understanding what betrayal is, and what it does to others. Perhaps I am naive, but when I was betrayed, I think it had a lot more to do with an individual's cowardice than a will to hurt or hinder me.
I believe that when people are cowards, they act to protect themselves rather than to speak up for what is right and good. These people, due to their lack of strength and cowardice, are always acting to protect themselves rather than work to do what is ethical. And, as they protect or gratify themselves, they do not think about others, and how their behavior impacts those around them.
After that betrayal, I've been a lot more transparent about what I think and what I do. I don't want to be betrayed like that again so I publicly share my decisions and rationale when courage is part of the equation. It's not easy to speak up for what you believe is right and good, but if you only do it silently, it's much easier for others to manipulate you or betray you. If your advocacy is more public, people know where you stand and what you stand for. This public advocacy and effort makes it more difficult for people to betray you and work against you.
Further to publicly acknowledge who you are and what you stand for forces you to continually consult your ethics, mission, rationale, and work to make sure you can stand by what you do and why you do it. When you put yourself on stage via social media, speaking aloud, or sharing your efforts, you have to be ready to stand by it with a sense of pride, commitment, honesty, and belief that your actions and words illustrate who you are and what you believe at that moment in time.
To be transparent like this also means that you have to be willing to acknowledge when your words and acts require revision as if you are an individual committed to doing well, you will continual evolve and as you evolve your efforts, words, and beliefs will change somewhat. The world keeps changing and dedicated individuals have to change with it to do good work.
Betrayal is painful, and it's something you don't want to do to another person. To be courageous; to speak up and stand up for what you believe; and to honestly try to do your best in any circumstance will make it less easy for others to betray you and ensure that you don't betray others too. Onward.
