Janese Johnson

What do all of the following clichés have in common?

Walk the talk; practice what you preach; and live your life as if it will be on the front-page news.
Each of these clichés has to do with living our life with integrity. And in the political arena it would be considered having a government that is transparent. Most of the corruption, scandals and pain that happen in the political and personal arenas can be traced back to dishonesty or lack of forthrightness about a situation.

The sad truth is that most people will object to corruption and hurtful behavior when they see it being done by others, but have a difficult time seeing similar behaviors in their own selves.  Rationalization can lead even the most honest person down a slippery road. Most of us have been challenged in life in the gray areas.

Recently I was asked to do something that intuitively I clearly knew was acting in the gray. I thought about it, and still got that gut feeling of no. However, my mind kicked in with some good reasons at first. But, when I thought about how it would sound on the front page of a newspaper, my mind was able to understand why my heart jumped in with an immediate no.

Another common “lack of transparency” can be seen in relationships with the feelings that we might have about something that someone we know said or did. I have seen numerous times, with my clients, pain that has been caused by holding back a feeling from the other out of fear of hurting them. One client I have has been upset at something her husband said to her years ago, but she has not wanted to hurt him by telling him her feelings. Now, years after the painful event, she finds that she is having a hard time feeling close to him, and it has affected their intimacy. They are both now hurt because of it, and neither of them can see the resolution.

Transparency does not mean sharing every thought, feeling and action with one another. Privacy in some areas is important. But when our actions or inactions have an impact on someone else, it seems important to share that with them. Sometimes having the character to come forward is difficult thing to do; it takes a lot of courage, but in the end it is quite worth it.

Teddy Roosevelt said, “Character, in the long run, is the decisive factor in the life of an individual, and of nations alike.” If the decisive factor is based on character and integrity, then we as a country are in a bit of trouble.

Corruption and scandals unfortunately have hit an all-time high in the government sector. Greed and personal interests have been the underlying motive behind most of the cases. The Federal Bureau of Investigation reveals that there has been an unheard-of 50-percent increase in public-corruption probes in the last five years, with agents currently working on 2,500 cases involving wrongdoing by public or elected officials. FBI Director Robert Mueller says, “democracy and corruption cannot coexist.” His agency has shifted much of its focus to combatting public corruption, since it is rampant nationwide. He pointed out that in the past two years alone, nearly 20,000 public officials have been convicted.

Even though this is quite a sad state of affairs, I believe that we can do something to change it. First, it seems important to practice what we preach in our own lives so that when we expect the same from others, it carries a lot of weight.

Then it seems important to stand up for more transparency in the government. We elect public officials to office to represent us. And if they are not acting in a way that represents our ethics and integrity, then it is up to us to tell them. The more that we, the people, refuse to tolerate the “behind closed doors” mentality that has made room for more corruption, the quicker we have our country back to being for the people, and not just for the few.

I believe that a strong foundation that is built on integrity and character can withstand most “storms” that come our way.
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Janese Johnson has been doing intuitive counseling nationally for more than 20 years. She may be contacted at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .