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Day 36 — What Are You Dishonest About?

Dishonesty is so rife that it is scarcely noticed. I am talking about the minor everyday things that we brush off. They start with speeding and end up in matters of integrity. How often do you 'withhold' the truth from your partner?

There is No Substitute for Honesty

Honesty cannot be relative to be effective; honesty cannot be bargained with. If you stand on your honesty with others then others can trust you and believe what you say. To do this you have stand on every aspect of your honesty. This is not an easy position to take, it takes rigorous adherence to principals that not many people accept.

Ultimately, though, there is no substitute for honesty. There are no half measures. You are either honest or you are not honest.

Time will inevitably uncover dishonesty and lies; history has no place for them.

Norodom Sihanouk

Feeling Uncomfortable

I cannot say that I am totally honest.

Like most people I like to think that I am an honest person but there are areas of my life where I have bent the truth for apparently honest reasons. In earlier years I thought nothing of lying about what I could do to get a job. My principle was that as long as it was something I knew I could do then it was ok. I have hidden the truth from the tax authorities and other public bodies to save a bit of money.

This is not acceptable but I have to accept that I have done it. I can see that I do it almost without noticing and thereby I seem to find it acceptable. I feel uncomfortable about completely cutting this out of my life; I feel concerned about how far reaching the effect of this could be. This is definitely something I still need to work on.

I know that this is not the way to inspire others, it's just being honest about who I am.

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