The very next morning, Mark arrived for a meeting at work five minutes late. I put some things off till the last minute, and I knew that would make me late and that you'd have to wait. I was selfish and apologize. The room became quiet as a tomb. People were stunned.
Nobody is ever honest like that about a mistake.
We loved it. Mark said people treated him noticeably differently the rest of the day, and he felt less inclined to pretend or hide his mistakes. It was great. We work so hard at it, and we get so little in return. Telling the truth about ourselves is frightening in the beginning, but it turns out to be effortless, certainly far easier than the lies and manipulation that take up so much of our time, effort, and concern.