Confession

My name is Daniel Walsch and I am a cynic. In all fairness, I did not start out that way. At one point in my life I believed people, generally, were motivated by things other than their own self interest. I believed people did try to carry on their lives with the idea of supporting the greater good. In fact, over the years I have actually seen people take actions that had nothing to do with improving their own lot in life. And, truth-be-told, I still see it today on rare occasions. But for me, a new truth has pushed its way into my line of vision and I can't seem to shake it. Simply put, it is this: actions people take are driven by their own self interest.

I take no joy or pride in coming clean with this perspective. I have been carrying it around now longer than I care to admit and it has not been fun. People say and do things and I immediately suspect their motives. Sure, this person just held a door for me, I think. But what was their real purpose for doing that? Maybe behind that seemingly nice deed was an effort to try and impress the person they were with. And why did that other driver let me move my car in front of them? Surely being courteous just for the sake of being courteous was not the reason. There just had to be a hidden agenda to their kind act, I reason.

What makes being cynical particularly tough for a person like me is that I work in the world of communication, a field that supposedly focuses on building and maintaining relationships between various publics. How can I reconcile trying to build bridges while secretly not trusting what I am being told by each side and not trusting actions each side is taking to solidify their efforts to cooperate? To say the least, it is a challenge. For me, and perhaps other communicators who wrestle with the same inner demon, it is one we will never overcome. With that in mind, then, this perhaps is all the more reason why we need to work extra hard at ensuring that honesty dominates our actions as well as those with whom we work.