“Honesty is not found in revealing the truth, but in understanding how deeply afraid of it we are. To become honest is in effect to become fully and robustly incarnated into powerlessness.” ​(Quote by David Whyte)

Introduction

​One of the greater truths of life is that honesty begets peace of mind, prosperity, and awareness.

​We expect political leaders, public figures, and those in power to be honest and transparent. We expect our friends and family to be honest and transparent. It makes us feel safe and secure, knowing about the true intentions of those around us. But what happens when we ourselves develop an inclination towards lying, cheating, and hiding, no matter how insignificant the impact we feel it might have? What message do we send to our subconscious minds when we hand out deceitful words to those we love? And let’s not even begin to talk about how the situation unravels when our web of lies is finally brought down in one single sweep.

​We tend to think that small lies have no consequences. But in reality, it’s never about the immediate effect. It’s always about the long-term ailment. Because when left unchecked, dishonesty can very well become a way of life. It becomes our second nature, and then no matter how much we try, we almost never succeed in getting rid of it. In today’s world, dishonesty has become such a common practice that in numerous situations, honest people are actually categorized as being idiotic. This alone should be enough to indicate where we stand in terms of being trustworthy members of the society.

​Significance

​If you wish to keep your life simple and easy-going, practice honesty. Move away from unnecessary lies, even the most insignificant ones, and you will have attained a decent amount of peace of mind. When we speak one lie after the other, we create non-essential complications in our relationships. We also inculcate insecurities in our own behavior because we find it difficult to believe others even when they are telling the truth, owing to our tendency to project our propensities onto others.

​When we tell lies in front of our young ones, they pick it up so naturally. We think they aren’t mature enough to understand, but that’s completely untrue. They learn it, and they implement it, and then we wonder why our children lie to us so often. Talking in terms of ‘karma’, when we try to hide the truth from others, the truth tends to stay hidden from us too. It is believed that when we lie, irrespective of the severity of the lie, it generates negative karma on our part, and when we find ourselves to be in desperate need of true knowledge, we fail to achieve it because of our past actions.

​Cultivation

​The first step towards living an honest life is to do away with avoidable lies. Start by being honest to your near and dear ones about the little things. Even if it proves to be damaging for yourself in the short term, be honest. Our honesty, especially when we are the ones at fault, is a direct indication of our integrity. People will find us to be much more trustworthy once they sense that we have our own moral compass guiding our actions even on rainy days. This is perhaps the most effective way of cultivating this virtue. Practice. Practice. Practice.

​Of course, if you have to choose between kindness and honesty, the former takes precedence over the latter. We don’t have to be hurtful in order to be truthful. The idea is to ingrain mature honesty in our way of life. The next step is to increase the frequency of our truths. When you think you’ve become an honest husband, father, son, brother, and friend, move on to getting acquainted with being an honest colleague. Workplace truthfulness is just as important as relationship truthfulness. If you think you’re going to have to lie about something, take a second look at the bigger picture. Assess if you can carve your way around the lie. If you can, then you must. Use this technique for managing all your dialogues, be it personal or professional. Sooner or later, you’ll get there.

​Resources

​Coming soon!

​End Note

​If we really wish to build better civilizations, we will have to keep our lies in check. We will have to consciously monitor our words, thoughts, and actions, and submit to a much more truthful approach towards life. We will have to stop with the seemingly harmless lies. This is especially important since it directly affects the kind of message we send to the younger generations. 

​Lying is not okay. Cheating is not okay. We’re going to have to make major amends in how we handle our daily conversations. We’re going to have to put in dedicated effort towards maintaining an unprecedented level of transparency at our workplaces as well as in our homes. If you cannot let your loved ones know about something, you probably should not be doing it in the first place. That’s how meaningful relationships are built. That’s how trust is built.

​PS. If you wish to become an accomplished human being, equipped with the right values and ethics, you should work on cultivating honesty as a virtue. It is one of the nine most important virtues of all times for promoting self development and growth.