Life is a journey, it is better to live it steadfastly. One of the secrets of success is self-honesty. Matters may get complicated so much so that man can’t be able to evaluate himself clearly. He may not find the suitable chance to clear his mind and evaluate his life for being busy running after his dreams and seeking to fulfill them. Matters may overlap in his mind so that he becomes unable to evaluate himself clearly. However, what can be assured is that the first step of success is self-honesty.
When you are honest with yourself, you will be able to evaluate your life and think logically realizing matters realistically. This in return will help you to judge matters with balance and step into the right way. You may not be progressing rapidly, however this is better than stepping into the wrong way or you will need to start over and life may not give you this chance!
A person who is true to himself will hold responsibility of his deeds. He will know his abilities and be able to determine what he is able or unable to do. Thus, he can make use of the most of his talents in the right way and at the same time he would be able to overcome the negativities that hinder his way to success. His true realization of his strengths and weaknesses will help him to increase his positive traits and eliminate the negative.
A self-honest person respects himself and gains others’ too. They say, ” honesty will make you evade the attack of others as it won’t be a problem if they attack you for your weaknesses as you are already realizing and trying to change them”. If they try to claim unreal trait in you, you will be unmoved by this but rather firm as you already know yourself well.
Your self-honesty will build your self-trust and trust of others in you as the saying goes, “let others talk; you know yourself well and that is enough”. Hence, whoever evades knowing himself clearly chose to get lost in the path of life. He will be deeply, mentally and emotionally distracted and moved by others’ opinions, thus he would be planning for his failure. He would resemble a doctor who treats an illness he has no information about thus he causes the patient’s case to deteriorate.
Self-honesty needs resistance, willpower and inner belief in its importance to achieve success. It needs training, patience and endurance to resiliently fight the wrong concepts of power and success that one faces internally inside his mind or externally within the society. Don’t be one of the reasons that led to lack of honesty in the society as there was a symbolic story about honesty that someone saw honesty backing its bags so he had asked it whereto, honesty said that it was bored of living with people who didn’t appreciate it and substitute it by deceit.
Thus, be honest with yourself and don’t worry if people tried to evade you. How great the saying that goes,” Don’t lie to get people’s attraction and don’t be afraid of honesty even if it would make people evade you. As honesty with oneself and others is the greatest profit in life.” Even if you are swimming against the tide, the sea would calm down soon and you would eventually reach the shore of success.
General Bishop Head of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center
