Do You Always Tell The Truth?

Is it co-incidence or are we as a people increasingly feeling the need for honesty in our lives?

I recently saw a tweet from Preity Zinta:

Friendship day, mothers day, fathers day , valentines day etc ! Wat bout Honesty day where v could honestly tell people how v really feel?

A few weeks back I came across an article and tweeted it. It talks about radical honesty. About being brutally honest, even if it means the end of some relationships.

You don’t really like what your neighbour is wearing, but you still say it’s nice. An acquaintance might say something you don’t agree with, but you nod and say “how true!” Your boss asks you for the long overdue assignment and you say you’re just mailing it across, when you’re actually just starting on it.

We all tell little (some to a greater extent) white lies every day. Sometimes it’s just simpler to agree to something you don’t actually believe is true. Why can’t we just be honest and say it like it is? Why can’t we accept criticism? I’ve debated this thought with myself and sometimes with my colleague on our way back home.

Now that we’re talking about honesty, I must admit that there have been days when I’m in a conversation with someone and I think that person is lying through his teeth. In my head I’m screaming, “No, no. That’s not how it is. You’re completely making that up”. Outside, I’m all composed, with a somewhat stoic look.

I can’t help but sneak in a song by Billy Joel aptly titled ‘Honesty’ . It goes something like this.

If you search for tenderness
it isn't hard to find.
You can have the love you need to live.
But if you look for truthfulness
You might just as well be blind.
It always seems to be so hard to give.

Then again, circumstances aren’t always black and white. Sometimes lying can be the only solution in a tricky situation. So is honesty an overrated virtue? Or are we not giving it its full due?

I’m tempted to try being 100% honest for a week and see where it takes me. Will I be jobless? Or homeless? Or friendless? We’ll soon find out...