April 20, 2007
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Honesty
I’ve always maintained that honesty is the cornerstone of any type of relationship, be it with your family, your friends, your coworkers, or romantic interests. Without honesty there can be no trust, and if there is no trust you have nothing else to build any kind of worthwhile foundation upon. Upon trust is built a number of other positive emotions which we take for granted, and should that trust crumble, so will everything else built upon it.
Fidelity and faith depend upon trust. Faith in someone or something requires that you believe in the absence of concrete proof. I have no proof that my family will be there for me in my time of greatest need, but I have faith that they will because I trust them. My parents have no proof that they will each maintain their vows of fidelity to each other, but their trust in one another insures that they don’t need a private investigator or some form of constant surveillance to make certain their promises are being kept. If I trust you, I believe that what you’re telling me is the truth, and I don’t question it, nor have any need to. Once that trust dissolves, it throws everything into question. If someone is capable of lying about something, especially the large and important things, then how can you be sure that anything they say is true or not? Being honest is what solidifies and maintains trust. Honesty insures that they will never have reason to doubt your word, and as such will never question your trustworthiness. If you build and maintain such a strong foundation, then nothing will ever shake or compromise it, because upon that honesty is built trust, and upon that trust is built faith. No matter what forces push and pull upon it, it will not break, shatter, or crumble. But if you build a foundation upon lies and deceit, then any kind of force or opposition could threaten to easily cause everything built upon it to collapse and topple. If you can’t trust someone to tell the truth about even small things, why would you trust them with more important things like your dreams? Your emotions? Your ambitions? Your family? Your heart? Dishonesty breeds distrust and distrust leads to a host of other negative emotions, just as trust is the gateway to a number of other positive ones. Don’t let something as simple and easy as honesty become the major barrier in obtaining the things you seek out of life.
I can always find someone
to say they sympathize.
If I wear my heart out on my sleeve.
But I don’t want some pretty face
to tell me pretty lies.
All I want is someone to believe.
Honesty is such a lonely word.
Everyone is so untrue.
Honesty is hardly ever heard.
And mostly what I need from you.-Honesty by Billy Joel
