Radically Honest

I want to tell you a story about a man in Utah named Josh Ferrin. Josh found $40,000 cash in the attic of the home he had just purchased. The previous owner had passed away, leaving the home to his six adult children. Those children removed things of value from the home and then sold it to Ferrin. (Well, they didn’t actually remove everything of value…)

When Ferrin went into the attic he found several metal boxes tucked under the eaves. To his surprise, he discovered they were full of one hundred dollar bills, bundled together with twine and stashed away by the now deceased previous owner. Ferrin treated his lucrative find as a windfall. He saw a golden opportunity and he took it; but - not in the way you might imagine. I’ll just let him tell you in his own words:

Josh was quoted as saying “…I don’t believe you get a chance very often to do something radically honest, to do something ridiculously awesome for someone else, and that is a lesson I hope to teach to my children.” 

So he contacted the family who had sold him the home and returned the money; all $40,000 of it, and in so doing, he seized the opportunity to enrich his character rather than his bank account. 

When I first heard this story, I got goose bumps (still get them, actually). Not because Ferrin gave the money back, which was impressive in and of itself, but because of the incredible amount of wisdom contained in his statement to the press. Frankly, there are religions that have been built around less. In one short phrase, he offered up three tenets of personal excellence that, if followed consistently, would dramatically change the world around us:

• Be radically honest. I’m not talking about telling someone “Yes – those pants do make you look fat”. The type of honesty that I’m talking about, and what I also believe that Ferrin was talking about, is knowing exactly what you value and disciplining yourself to behave according to those values, regardless of the personal cost involved. It’s about doing the right thing rather than the easy thing, and as most of us already know, they are seldom the same thing. Being radically honest requires that we be willing to look deep into the dark places in our lives, and mercilessly root out any attitudes and behaviors that are contrary or detrimental to our pursuit of excellence.  Radical honesty is a lifestyle – not an event.

• Do good things for others, or as Josh put it, “do something ridiculously awesome for someone else”.  Not because they have earned it, but because “good planted is good harvested”. Someone once said “Being good is commendable, but only when it is combined with doing good is it useful.” Those of you who have spent any time on this planet know that it can sometimes be a harsh place, and that often times (if not most times), the only comfort we receive comes through the efforts of others. None of us want to live in a world where it is “every man for himself”, but we persist in creating one that is exactly that. If you want the world to be a better, kinder, gentler and safer place, then make it that way.
  
  Edward Everett Hale summed it up simply: “I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something.  And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do.”

• Teach your children to be people of character. Building character is not the responsibility of the government, it is not the responsibility of the school system, it is not the responsibility of the church: it is your responsibility. Children with self-discipline see it modeled by their parents, and the same is true for all of the other virtues. Children are the architects of the future, so teach them to build the world you want to live in. And remember, they will follow your example much more quickly than they will follow your advice, so preach less and practice more.

I don’t know Josh, but I think I would like him. If any of you do know Josh, shake his hand for me and tell him “thanks for being radically honest.”