We have been taught from a very young age that honesty is the best policy. We are taught to be honest in all our dealings, big or small. We are schooled never to lie. We are told repeatedly that honesty is the most important of all ethics. However, what people tend to forget to teach us is the importance of self-honesty.
Being true to yourself is very important. You can be honest with the world, but as long as you are not honest with yourself, you are not being fair. Give the most importance to what you think of yourself rather than what others think of you. You can justify to the world why you did what you did, but as long you are not honest with yourself, it can be difficult to find peace.
For example, an individual might treat someone unfairly to gain something that was not rightfully theirs in order to be looked well upon by others. But deep down, the person may know what they did was wrong.
If we can’t gather up the courage to be honest with ourselves, we may continue to exhibit the same behaviors. Self-honesty is a trait that holds immense importance.
What’s True Will Continue to Exist
Nothing in the world is constant. Everything changes. However, for something to exist forever, it has to be true and authentic. You are what your core is. No matter how much you coat it with colors to please the world, you will always be what you are at the core. Your core is your truth.
No matter how much you coat it with colors to please the world, you will always be what you are at the core. Your core is your truth.
You can pretend to be things people expect you to be, but when you are honest with yourself, you will be proud of who you are. You will portray your core without being afraid of what people think of you.
This is because, at the end of the day, you can hide your truth from the world but not from yourself. Being true to yourself is important if you wish to be proud of who you are.
You Become More Fearless
When you are honest with yourself, you accept your weaknesses and flaws. You may know what some of those are. You may know what you are capable of and what you aren’t capable of. With enough self-knowledge, people’s judgments about you can become less important.
You may become more fearless, because when you know your capabilities, the world and the opinions of others can’t put you down. If someone tells you that you can’t do something which you know you can do, your morale will likely stay unaffected, enabling you to continue towards your goals fearlessly.
You Gain More Clarity
You will have better clarity about the things you want in life when you are completely honest with yourself. Your real identity is something only you know, and it is most often up to you to decide what your life goals are. People may dictate your priorities for you, but you can be honest about your needs, your wishes, and your priorities with yourself, at least. With more clarity, you may be able to put in more effort and dedication to achieve what you wish for.
Relationships Become Healthier
Honesty is the foundation of any relationship. No relationship can survive without honesty. If you fail to be honest with yourself, how can you ever be honest with anyone else? If you hide the truth from yourself, how can you expect to share it with anyone else? It’s nearly impossible to be honest with anyone as long as you aren’t honest with yourself.
To have a long-lasting and a healthy relationship, you must ensure that you are offering the other person the ‘true you.’ Relationships thrive when their foundations are based on two people who are honest with themselves and each other.
Life Becomes Beautiful
We strive for a positive public opinion because we have started to believe that we are what people think we are. We try to hide our reality from the world because we think it might disqualify us from the ‘in-crowd.’ When you are honest with yourself, you start owning your reality, and you stop hiding behind the public opinion. The life you were previously trying to hide from everyone starts feeling beautiful.
Being honest with yourself can make life easier, less complicated, and a lot more beautiful. You become less dependent on others and more dependent on yourself. You start loving yourself with all your flaws, and that’s the turning point toward contentment and inner peace.
Some people experience strong feelings of self-rejection that make it difficult to pursue or appreciate their true self. If you’re having a hard time practicing self-honesty, it can help to speak with a licensed and compassionate therapist.
The preceding article was solely written by the author named above. Any views and opinions expressed are not necessarily shared by GoodTherapy.org. Questions or concerns about the preceding article can be directed to the author or posted as a comment below.
