Chris' Christian Blog

Honesty

"Honesty" 

Carrie Fisher said "I think that the truth is a really stern taskmistress."

I have to agree with this assessment. There are times when we choose not to tell the truth for fear the truth will hurt somebody's feelings. For example somebody introduces you to their infant. Like any parent they are very proud. However the baby is so ugly that the doctor should have spanked the parents! Need I say more?

Most of the time however honesty truly is the best policy. This isn't to imply that honesty is easy. It certainly is not. However it's much easier than living with the baggage that lies bring with them. There was a time when I just about lied about everything. I would often lie when the truth would have served my purpose much better. I did it mainly because at the time my self-esteem was in the basement. I didn't like me. Therefore the shame I felt about my ordinary, non-eventful life compelled me to invent an alter-ego that i presented to the world. The fact that I was heavily addicted to drugs didn't help.

In time however I changed all of that by getting honest with myself. I realized that while my life was not a glamorous one, it had been a good one. Every path I had been down contributed to make me the unique person I am today. I have insights only few can share due to the events in my life. I have no reason to lie about who or what I am.

Honesty earns one the respect of most others. I do a lot of reviews on WDC. In those reviews I try to be as honest as I can be. I have found that doing so is usually well received, even if the review is somewhat negative. Authors would rather be told that something is not working than to produce writing that is mediocre at best and even embarrassing.

i heard a couple arguing on a bus one day. The lady's makeup made her look like a clown as it was totally the wrong type for her. She had asked a friend about it and the friend had assured it was fine, even though the friend felt the makeup was tacky and made the woman look silly. The friend had thought they were doing the lady a favor by protecting her feelings. Instead they had allowed her to make a fool of herself. She told the friend that she'd much rather hear the truth than to look foolish.

Telling the truth isn't always comfortable but a sincere comment, though perhaps not well received at the moment, pays dividends in the end.