Honesty means being truthful, being authentic, and being real to people and to yourself. Ever since we were kids we have been taught of “honesty is the best policy”- William Shakespeare. Why? It is no rocket science! If one is honest, they will be able to live a relaxed and stress-free life.
Think of a situation where we lie about something, a small lie that led to more lies to cover it up, and then lies after lies thereafter. One lie led to a cycle of lies that will never leave our backs. We will always be worrying about the truth being let out or trying to cover up the lie with more lies or even worse trying to justify the lie to ourselves. How exhausting is that? Now imagine living in lies our entire life!! Is it worth it, or will it have a continuous negative impact on us and our mental health?
And for those running businesses and managing accounts; how far does transparency go? Yes! Honesty is also being transparent. As it will pave the way for clients to trust us and our business more than our competitors. Hence, we shall always prosper in it. Deceiving and lying to get money might bring us some short term gains but the long term guilt, hiding your dirty tracks, never-ending court cases, etc. will lead us to eventually lose out on not just money but happiness and wellbeing too.
Honesty is therefore maturity of the highest form. An honest person will build all his/her relationships on a foundation of trust and honesty. He/she will be confident in life as they have nothing to hide. Their friendships and all relationships will be long-lasting and most importantly, they will be sustainable. Honest people will never cheat or deceive and hence they will have a fruitful and cherishing life.
Thus, the values of honesty instilled by our elders should not be taken for granted. They help make our personalities which we carry on for our entire lives. A person with a good and honest personality is someone who will always be looked upon as reliable. On the other hand, a person who frequently lies and manipulates people to get his/her way will always be referred to a liar. Even when he/she finally says the truth, their “truth” will not sound worthy and profound.
This teaching not only applies to children but to parents too. Some parents think they are trying to do good by deceiving their child into getting something done. But children are smart, they notice and absorb our behaviors. If our children see us lying they will think it is the right thing to do because they take us as role models. Parents! Please let’s be mindful of our actions with and around our kids, for their future lies beneath them.
“When you tell a lie, you steal someone’s right to the truth.” -Khaled Hosseini. Therefore if it is not right, don’t do it and if it is not true don’t say it! Let this be our mantra to live and let live a prosperous worry-free life.