Honesty, the lost policy?

Everyone has heard the phase that goes along the lines of "honesty is the best policy." But recently, I have been left to wonder if it has become more of the "lost policy."

For example, Several top notch football teams in the NCAA are being investigated as we speak to see if they are seeking an unfair advantage over their competition. Many of these teams are not only being investigated, but are getting caught doing things that they should not. Along the same lines, the best high school teams in the state are constantly accused of bending/breaking rules here and there. Not long ago we had a huge outbreak of professional baseball players with steroids. Athletes that we looked up to so much as kids were going to court on account of cheating to get better results. I could go on and on in the world of athletes who cheat. A list that would include many many more, including even tour de France cyclists and olympic contestants.

Now that I've talked about the 1% of the population, I suppose it would be beneficial to look towards the rest of us. Most of the time our dishonesty does not make the headline news, and often times it is not monitored by millions of people worldwide. However it can be just as damaging to us as it is to everyone else.

Lately I've been thinking of two types of dishonesty that affect us in Huge ways. Firstly is being dishonest with ourselves. Look around you, look at your friends, your family, your neighbors, or even strangers. Look what they've got. See what they've accomplished? Who they have become? Notice how amazing they are? Now look at yourself. See how you pale in comparison? why do you even bother? They clearly are on a whole separate and higher level that you really shouldn't even put forth any effort any more. Do you sense the dysphoria here?

This whole train of thinking sounds so ridiculously down that it just makes everyone who reads it depressed. But world, take a self evaluation, is this your train of thought sometimes?

You are you. Be honest with yourself. You have strengths and weaknesses, but guess what, so does everyone else. Its easy to let things like scholar performance, work opportunities, relationship status, etc crowd your way of thinking that tells you who you really are. Be you, in a world where everyone is trying to be someone else, it is so much more unique these days to just be yourself. There is a reason we aren't all robots, we've been given our own individual characteristics and traits for a reason. Embrace individuality! Learn it, live it, and love it! (just not too much)

The other type of dishonesty worth mentioning is a trickier one to talk about. In a lot of ways it is similar what has already been discussed. This however, is dishonesty with others. The reason this one is harder to talk about is because it cuts deeper within all of us. If I may be so bold, I would even say that everyone of us is found guilty of this. Whether we recognize it or not, it can hurt those around us.

This type of dishonesty can come from simply only sharing part of the truth, but hiding the rest of it. It can come from remaining silent period, while avoiding the difficult conversations. It can also be shown as pride kicks in; by comparing us to someone "lower" than us. You see it through backbiting, rumors, backstabbing, and many other methods.

In short, not only are we hurting others around us by being dishonest, but we are also hurting ourselves. It is in a very real sense a bomb which can hurt us all. Be honest, with yourself, and with others. Your life will be tremendously less stressful and worrisome.

I hope this entry was as good for you all as it was for me. For good measure, and much better words than I can say myself, I close this entry with some help from President Faust.

Enjoy this clip, Its really good