Transparency: The Foundation of a Healthy Relationship

By Michael Letney with Karen Hardin

Being transparent. It is one of the easiest things you will ever do and also one of the

hardest things you will ever do. All it requires is gut-level honesty, communication, and the

removal of all smoke screens. Can it get any easier? Can it get any harder?

Here is a quick litmus test to help you gauge the level of your transparency.

Do you freely share with your fiancé or spouse:

1. Your conversations with others?

2. Who you met with during the day?

3. The sights you surf on the internet?

4. The highs and lows of your day?

5. The deepest thoughts of your heart?

If the answer to any of those is “no”, then you’re probably not being 100% transparent

with your mate. It is time to explore why.

In my own marriage with my wife, Barbie, we have experienced heartache and

challenges that could have easily caused us to throw in the towel, call it quits and not make it to

the forever part because I was not always transparent with her. There were many reasons why

and how I justified my actions, but in the end it was still wrong.

During the course of our marriage, Barbie and I have walked through an armed robbery, a

burglary and not one but two bankruptcies. We drove to the top of the mountain of comfort and

financial stability only to suddenly drive off the cliff and crash at the bottom. Hitting bottom

once was bad, but twice should be a knockout punch to any marriage. It could have easily

derailed our marriage and commitment to forever. And it almost did, until I learned the

importance not only of being transparent and sharing all with my wife, but the four secrets to a

successful marriage. How do I know? Because I can tell you at one time they were not present,

and it could have caused me to lose my marriage and my best friend. Thankfully I got a second

Make no mistake, transparency is difficult to achieve, but the only way someone will get

to know you is if you allow them access to your thoughts and heart and become transparent. And

if you are engaged or already married, there is no one you should be more transparent with than

the person with whom you pledge your life.

Want to know more about learning to live transparently with the one you love?

Get Michael Letney’s new book, “Four Secrets to a Forever Marriage: Marriage Tips

from a Not-So-Perfect Husband.” Available now at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.com.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:  As the founder and creator of The Unity Cross, Michael Letney has

influenced thousands of weddings through the wedding rings he has created and now with the

bestselling Unity Cross and Unity Heart which are being used in ceremony’s across the nation. For

additional information go to: www.unitycross.com or www.michaelletney.com