A leg to stand on.

Honesty is our measure of truthfulness, sincerity, or frankness (dictionary.com/honesty) in many ways for me is the younger half-sister of integrity, now admittedly they are very much from the same school of thought, what I find important is the power that they carry when used in tandem. For many people it is an unrealistic expectation to always be honest many people lack the integrity or fortitude to carry that oft times burden; that is largely understandable but no less tragic.  The tragedy is that all too often we lie, misrepresent, or even confuse because the path is easier, less resistant.  This too is unfortunate – in many cases that resistance is what stimulates growth and development both of individuals and relationships between individuals.  The failure is simply this, ultimately the lack of honesty boils down to a much more serious, underlying, condition: a lack or respect and trust.

I have a fundamental value set of which honesty is paramount, this is not something that qualifies me for anything.  It does not make me better than the next person, it is merely an irrevocable portion of what has made me who I am.  I value honesty, not for it’s inherent value of being true and sincere, but for it’s ability to develop common, meaningful relationships.  I believe it a misrepresentation that people can be too honest, they could in all likelihood benefit from lessons in tact that however is a question more of delivery and less of merit. Honesty is; however, a courtesy of the highest order from one person to another, honesty is one of my single biggest signaling mechanisms and compliments.  Honesty is my beginning, the first step in any relationship is respect and I convey this by being honest, and in a much more subtle way it also indicates my willingness to trust in their interpretation of my message but also in the other’s reciprocation through such an act.

I mentioned in my previous blog that there are few people who hold to the idea “my word is my bond”, this is what I hope to change.  I feel that we have an inherent responsibility to be our best self.  During some of the most turbulent years of my life to date I belonged to  DeMolay, a civic and service based organization for young men between the ages of 12 and 21, my tenure there was well and truly life changing.  Fortunately for me that message is one important piece of the many lessons I learned, albeit not until years later did I really understand the importance of that lesson and even longer still before I was able to appreciate it, nonetheless honesty became one of my most valuable assets.