Honest relations are just like water

Merriam-Webster defines honesty as "fairness and straightforwardness of conduct" or "adherence to the facts." The Oxford English Dictionary defines honesty as "the quality of being honest." Honest is, in turn, defined as "Free of deceit; truthful and sincere...Morally correct or virtuous...(attributive) Fairly earned, especially through hard work...(of an action) done with good intentions even if unsuccessful or misguided...(attributive) Simple, unpretentious, and unsophisticated.

Honesty is a facet of moral character that connotes positive and virtuous attributes such as integrity, truthfulness, straightforwardness, including straightforwardness of conduct, along with the absence of lying, cheating, theft, etc. Honesty also involves being trustworthy, loyal, fair, and sincere. Honesty is valued in many ethnic and religious cultures. "Honesty is the best policy" is a proverb of Benjamin Franklin, while the quote "Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom" is attributed to Thomas Jefferson, as used in a letter to Nathaniel Macon. April 30 is national honesty day in the United States

William Shakespeare famously describes honesty as an attribute people leave behind when he wrote that "no legacy is so rich as honesty" in act 3 scene 5 of "All's Well that Ends Well." Now you will always hear ‘People living in the world’ tell you that honesty at all times is a gullible and exploitable quality. Look at the Human History of last 2000 years, what have they done to prove to you that they are anything better than ‘below average’ to ‘average’ at best morality wise. Lies, Deceit and Corruption is all around us to see. So, do you want to base your reference level to ‘Human Qualities’ ?

Basically people put themselves in situations(knowingly or unknowingly) full of Vices, and then find excuses to become dishonest. may be this is an extreme example, but its a good reminder because we have to keep our aims high. It is safe to say the definition of honesty can mean a lot of different things for a lot of different people. Wikipedia defines honesty as “the human quality of communicating and acting truthfully and with fairness.” Merriam-Webster defines honesty as “a fairness and straightforwardness of conduct; adherence to the facts.” How do you define honesty and what does it mean to you?

I think it’s also safe to say that we all expect honesty from others. No one likes the feeling of being deceived or lied to. However, do we practice honesty in our day-to-day living? There are definitely some benefits to being honest. For one, it keeps us out of trouble. When we are honest, we have nothing to hide, and with nothing to hide, there is nothing to be found. Honesty also gives us credibility with others. If caught in a predicament, people are more likely to believe those of us who have been honest and forthcoming.

It also gives us a sense of freedom. If you’ve ever found yourself holding on to a lie, you know the feeling of freedom that comes when you are able to tell the truth. When we tell the truth we feel better mentally and physically. Our lies and secrets often can make us sick in many different ways. When we are honest, we have better and closer relationships with others. Our relationships become more meaningful because we have better communication and an overall better sense of trust.

If you find that you are not an honest person, or would like to strive to be more honest, have no fear. Being honest really is not that difficult. First, we have to examine the things that keep us dishonest. These things often are negative feelings or emotions. Sometimes we avoid being honest due to fear of how others will respond. Other times it may be a result of embarrassment. Other times it may be a result of trying to avoid conflict with others or taking responsibility for an action. When we can examine why we are being dishonest, we can begin to deal with those feelings, process them, and move forward toward more honest living.

We also have to practice telling the truth without exaggeration. Sounds a little silly, but how many times have you heard someone with outstretched hands say, “I caught a fish this big,” when it was really a tiny brim? How many times have you or someone else exaggerated how many clients you saw, how bad traffic was, or how much you spent on an item? When we practice telling the truth without exaggeration, it not only forces us to become more honest. It also forces us to begin to examine why we would exaggerate such details to begin with.

Lastly, we should practice honesty in simple situations. For example, you are in the drive-thru at a local fast food restaurant. You pay for your food, but you get $2 extra in change. Two dollars is not a lot of money these days. Do you drive off or return the extra money?Let’s say you’re at home and a visitor comes by unannounced. Do you pretend to be sick or not at home or do you state you just don’t feel like company?

If you said you’d return the money and be honest with your visitor, you’re thinking honestly. When it becomes easy for us to be dishonest in small situations, it becomes even easier to be dishonest in bigger ones. If we make it a daily habit to practice honesty in all that we do, we find it much easier to become honest people more often. Honesty is not just telling the truth . Honesty is when your word and action match with each other. Being honest is not an easy job. Honesty and truth both are like the backbone of any relationship of this world. It may be friendship or in between the children and parents.

Always be honest to that person who shares everything with you . Be honest to your parents who have brought you to this earth. Be honest to your work. Your honesty makes someone to trust on you. When this trust gets broken, it ruins everything. Most of the time truth is bitter but it's effect stays for less time. But the sugarcoated lie is the slow poison which gradually kills the person. Honesty may not give the guarantee of success; but the success gained in honest way will never leave your side. Cheers!