The Impact of Honesty on Me Honesty has played a key role in my success in life. Throughout my childhood my parents would always remind me about the importance of being honest. In their opinion nothing was as important as having self-respect and being trustworthy. The saying “honesty is the best policy” perfectly sums up my belief about how people should interact with each other. For me, being honest in everything I do can be a very difficult thing, but I have found that as I follow this basic principle my life has become better for it. Growing up in my home as a child, I was surrounded by honesty and integrity. I assumed that the world was a great place where all people genuinely cared for each other’s well-being and feelings. As I entered middle school I was awakened to what this world was really all about. I discovered the widespread epidemic of cheating on tests to achieve better grades, stealing from others as a predominant way of getting something that you wanted, and all sorts of other cunning and deceiving activities. These abominable actions led me to the horrifying reality that most people were out to help themselves through dishonest means and had little regard for the impact it had on others. My assumption that everyone would be honest with their fellow man was severely skewed due to the rich and wholesome environment I had grown up in.
Though I firmly believe in the principle of honesty I have not been perfect myself. Whether stealing a dollar from my brother’s piggy bank here and there, or telling a fib to my parents, I, like virtually every other imperfect human, have been dishonest. As a youngster my parents would take a large wooden cooking spoon and spank me with it whenever I told a lie. This punishment quickly and effectively taught me how important trustworthiness was to them, over time this created a desire within me to always be honest for myself.
Being dishonest in everyday life can have