Here we are, months from the previous post, and I make my unawaited comeback with another serious (yawn!) post on my beliefs!
Some background: An abridged version of Abraham Lincoln's biography that I read when I was very young had a profound impact on my appreciation for honesty. Though it isn't a quality always respected in society, especially here in India, it is closely linked to integrity, which is. Another early push in this direction was an incident where I joked about a particular uncle lying about something, and his nieces immediately said "He never lies". I think he was brought up in some ashram that way, but the point is, that kind of trust in another person's honesty blew me away. I made a mental note that I'd be a "He never lies" kind of man myself.
This doesn't mean I was a Mahatma Gandhi from a tender age; I lied when it was easier to do so (though not much) for more than a decade after these events, but eventually came round to the 100% honesty track. The quality is most often tested when an opinion is asked for, or an admission is to be made - an understanding set of friends and family helps in the initial stages of this. My modified approach is to speak only when required, to minimise situations where I get into trouble for telling the truth. Trust me (ha ha), honest people are feared and disliked often, which flies directly in the face of myoccasional regular need for attention and to be liked adored. I balance this by sometimes shamelessly self-promoting the fact that I never lie; since it's the truth, I don't feel so bad about it.
There are perks - respect, trust, and the potential to get away with blatant large LIES at some point (not that I will). The only failures so far are time-related - usually accepting a deadline and grossly missing it - there's still work to be done. I'll get back to you on that in a week.
Some background: An abridged version of Abraham Lincoln's biography that I read when I was very young had a profound impact on my appreciation for honesty. Though it isn't a quality always respected in society, especially here in India, it is closely linked to integrity, which is. Another early push in this direction was an incident where I joked about a particular uncle lying about something, and his nieces immediately said "He never lies". I think he was brought up in some ashram that way, but the point is, that kind of trust in another person's honesty blew me away. I made a mental note that I'd be a "He never lies" kind of man myself.
This doesn't mean I was a Mahatma Gandhi from a tender age; I lied when it was easier to do so (though not much) for more than a decade after these events, but eventually came round to the 100% honesty track. The quality is most often tested when an opinion is asked for, or an admission is to be made - an understanding set of friends and family helps in the initial stages of this. My modified approach is to speak only when required, to minimise situations where I get into trouble for telling the truth. Trust me (ha ha), honest people are feared and disliked often, which flies directly in the face of my
There are perks - respect, trust, and the potential to get away with blatant large LIES at some point (not that I will). The only failures so far are time-related - usually accepting a deadline and grossly missing it - there's still work to be done. I'll get back to you on that in a week.
Like any other belief, there is no rational basis for full honesty; the choice is an invitation for more struggle than one would otherwise need to face. Even so, I think I am far more committed to this than in minimising cruelty - a not-so-comforting statement about my preference for fact over feelings. Like the previous post on vegetarianism, sharing my personal code is partly an attempt to win people over to my point of view, since most of my beliefs survive better in a climate of agreement.
Don't worry, there aren't many more, I swear.
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