Living the Virtues Series: Honesty With Self
Honesty With Self
This month I will be blogging about the virtue of honesty. Honesty is known as the quality of being truthful. This week, I am focusing on honesty with self. The quote that I have chosen for this week’s virtue is by James Allen. It states: “The man who cannot endure to have his errors and shortcomings brought to the surface and made known, but tries to hide them, is unfit to walk the highway of truth.”
I am sure you know what it feels like when you are both honest and dishonest with yourself. Sometimes you deceive yourself in order to protect yourself. People tell lies to themselves, whatever the reasons, it happens. Breaking down the quote, endurance means strength or courage in this instance. If you cannot come face to face with the reality of your errors or your shortcomings, then who are you really? A person who tries to hide this is not going to get to a place of peace in his or her life. Truth begins with honesty. Plain and simple. And it begins with you.
The ability to be honest with yourself isn’t an easy one if you’re new to the concept of virtuous living. It means that you have to own up to a lot of things, good and bad. But the ball is in your court, so to speak. This opportunity is there for you to correct the wrongs, and move forward in your life. When you recognize and admit to the shortcomings, you are telling yourself you are ready for change. With each and every step forward you take, it will lead to more peace and happiness.
Dishonesty evolves and grows into a monster of its own and while you can reverse the signs of such a beast, it doesn’t happen overnight. Lying to yourself can actually create neural pathways in your brain that tricks you into thinking lies are okay. You start with little ones, but before you know it, everything that comes out of your mouth is made-up, or duplicitous.
You do not have the ability to be honest with others if not with yourself first. Being honest with yourself is doing what you know is right. It is being sincere, open and truthful. There are some really great things that come from this attitude. Not only the recognition that improvements of self need to be made, but also the stability, and peace that comes with living an honest life. As soon as you choose to start living that way for yourself, you become transparent and others will trust you.
If you have relationships with people that are built on honesty, it is easy to recognize that everything is not always agreeable. No one is going to agree with your thoughts or perceptions 100% of the time. Being honest in a relationship will come with disagreements. But it is refreshing when people match their actions with their words because you know it comes from a place of honesty. There is no “false advertising” with an honest person. They are not trying to put false fronts out, what you see is what you get.
Living the virtue of honesty can be a success. Start off with being honest with yourself. That is the most important step. As with all the other virtues, each of these blog posts comes with affirmations that you can implement into your life. Affirmations are little messages of clarity that help you. When you practice these affirmations, being honest with yourself will get easier and clearer. Your perceptions and attitudes will change. Here are some affirmations to practice this week. “Telling lies is part of my past and I am now released from it.” “I choose to tell the truth.” “Every day I am becoming more honest with myself.” “I think honestly, I speak honestly.” I know that these affirmations may seem simple, but in reality, they work. If you can create a monstrous lie, you can also create a monstrous honesty. Which one will you choose? Thanks for reading. InJoy your day!
