Honesty
The old saying is true—honesty really is the best policy. Even if you’re able to get away with lying for a little while, your lies are bound to catch up with you at some point. So, here’s a good guideline to live by—tell the truth, and tell it with respect for the people who hear it.
Keep in mind that honest people don’t mess with stuff that doesn’t belong to them. Basically, they don’t steal. They don’t break things that belong to other people. And, if they do break something, they admit it and try to make amends.
Honest people make decisions about people and things based on evidence rather than emotions. Sometimes, it’s easy to make judgments based on what we think we know. But, being honest means being willing to consider all the facts before we draw those conclusions. As humans, our perspectives can sometimes be skewed. When we’re being honest, we’re willing to consider alternative explanations.
Finally, honesty means being willing to consider that there are aspects of ourselves we need to change. It’s dishonest, both to ourselves and to others, to think we’re perfect. Everyone has room for improvement. Being honest with ourselves means being open to constructive criticism.
Compassion/Respect
No one likes to be treated with disrespect. We all want to be understood, accepted, and appreciated. We expect to be treated with kindness. We expect other people to try to understand us, not just criticize us.
If you want to be respected, you have to respect others. You must treat people with kindness and try to put yourself in their shoes. When someone needs help, be helpful! You never know when you’re going to need someone to help you someday.
One of the most important things to remember about respecting others is to not judge people who are different from you. Everywhere you look, you see people of different ethnicities, religious backgrounds, and sexual orientations. You see rich people, poor people, men, women, Democrats, Republicans—you name it. The point is, everyone’s different, and there’s no such thing as “normal.”
So, there’s no reason to draw distinctions between people. Everyone is unique and deserves to be treated with kindness and respect.
Tags: Be Responsible
