We all have told a little white lie because we felt cornered in a situation and we needed to escape or to gain something. And then we have other days were are caught in serious situations and we feel like the only way out is to lie although we know our “big dark lie” is going to cause harm to others. Well that can save you a day out of trouble (or even out of jail)… but then human beings an aptitude or a spot called conscience which is responsible for distinguishing between wrong and right. In simpler terms some people have referred to it as the inner voice. It tells us what is right or wrong,but it does not command us what to pick from the two. At the end of the day, we are left with a choice to pick between what is wrong or right.
Now here is why honesty is the best policy; if we ignore what our conscience or inner voice is telling us, we suffer from guilt which can be the seed for shame, hurt, anger and many other negative emotions. Negative emotions causes negative actions. Because of the anger that you carry in your heart, you start mistreating people around you, pushing them away and hurting them. Once you start feeling guilty about something, it can also affect you physically, for example you start sleeping less, eating less or more than what you are supposed to eat, gaining or losing weight, losing concentration in your activities or even abusing alcohol and drugs to be less conscious. All these can cause severe health problems such as depression, obesity, anorexia and high blood pressure and many more.
We are not going to always make the best choices but this should happen without the intention to be dishonest. Mistakes are to be made, but they are also to be corrected. Take responsibility of your actions instead of lying your way out and fix what you have broken. When we do what we feel is right when nobody is looking, we do not only protect our conscience but we also maintain integrity. Integrity is the state of being honest and fair at whatever cost. It is the concept of having consistency in our actions, values. You actions make your character, what you do instead of what you preach is who you really are.
Always live your truth, whether it is what you believe religiously, politically or philosophically. Do not choose your actions or thought based on personal gain, selfishness but rather on your morals and values. You can be very much respected for what you do in the public eye but if what you do when none is looking is dirty, you are just as empty. Integrity brings peace of mind, contentment and makes a certain positive difference. Going to sleep with a clear conscious, feeling content and feeling like we are fulfilling a purpose is what we need to have energy to carry out activities of the next day.