Honesty

Honesty is one of the treasured values of human being. Living” life” honestly means being transparent and showing  one’s true self to others. Honesty not only holds people together. It also helps a person to combat problems and do well in the life. This is a value which is highly essential for a person to be honest with himself. By being honest gives courage to face our inner values and conflicts. This can get rid of the negative feelings which hold us back and as a result, find the confidence within. This  confidence is what we need in order to handle problems and perform well. Above everything, trust is evolved from honesty.
Being honest means choosing not to lie, steal, cheat, or deceive in any way. Honesty build strength of character that will allow us  to be of great service to our fellow beings and we will be blessed with peace of mind and self-respect
Closely associated with honesty is integrity. Integrity means thinking and doing what is right at all times, no matter what the consequences.
When you have integrity, you are willing to live by your standards and beliefs even when no one is watching.
We all need to know what it means to be honest. Honesty is more than not lying. It is truth telling, truth speaking, truth living, and truth loving.
Honesty is a principle, and we have our moral agency to determine how we will apply this principle. We have the agency to make choices, but ultimately we will be accountable for each choice we make. Dishonesty may work fine for some time. It may earn money, power and men. But all this is for a short time.

Dishonesty harms us and harms others as well. If we lie, steal, shoplift, or cheat, we damage our spirit and our relationships with others. Being honest will enhance  future opportunities and our ability to take the right path in our journey. Be honest at school; choose not to cheat in any way. Be honest in your job, giving a full amount of work for your pay. Do not rationalize that being dishonest is acceptable, even though others may think it does not matter.  Once a general manager wanted to test honesty of his officers who were attending an in-house training programme.
He announced that in their training  folder, there is a pouch carrying a seed in it. He requested them to put it in a good soil in a pot and look after it very well once they go back. He said he will hold a competition next year same time to choose the best plant and the person who did the job will be suitably rewarded. Officers followed what the General Manager asked them to do.  A year passed quickly and they all assembled in a big hall with their plants. There were hundreds of pots and a great variety of plants, except one.

It had no plant but the soil.  The owner looked ashamed and was very quiet.
The general manager called him on the stage. He asked him what happened to his seed. The officer told him the truth. Though he planted the seed and water properly, nothing happened to the seed.
To every one’s surprise, he was declared as the winner! The general Manager said,’’ “Gentlemen! The seeds I gave you were boiled seeds.
You planted them and nothing happened! You acted smartly and used some other seeds.
This man was honest to his work and, therefore he did not cheat me or himself!”
Remember One lie or deception coupled with one act of dishonesty can create a monster that can destroy one’s character and make life miserable..
Honesty is nothing but truthfulness.  Today’s world is materialistic and accumulating wealth plays a key role in a man’s life. Everyone wants to become someone without any hard labor. An honest man is always brave and not afraid of anybody. It is true he is bound to   face many problems but his truthfulness is liked by everybody. On the other hand, liar, greedy and cunning people are not loved or respected by anyone. An honest person always obeys law and free from any serious trouble. A plaque is displayed at the entrance to the Vanderbilt University Student Center explains the importance of being honest. It reads:_
“Today I am going to give you two examinations, one in trigonometry and one in honesty.

Sheela Abraham