Honesty ... really the best policy?

We've heard it all before... Ideological staples like "The truth shall set you free", "Honesty is the best policy"; and many other idealistic staples passed down to us from early childhood. All, very good lessons to learn; and although these lessons are taught to us (generally speaking) in the earliest phases of life... formative years; yet somewhere along the line, personally, I learned to lie. Not just, lying in the straight-out outlandish story making sense; but the whole gamut of the lie spectrum. The self protecting lie to keep out of trouble, the white lie to protect others and their feelings, the half truths and self denial to cushion our own ego's and/or maintain our perceptions of self. 

It's interesting to think of it now, because in most case's people are not taught how to lie outright, but we seem to learn it in one way or another... possibly through watching and observing, or maybe just natural inclination; like the 1st time a child may realize telling a falsehood or half truth could help them avoid punishment. Maybe it's just part of human nature... hardwired into our self preservation circuits. Who know's exactly where we get it from; but most people in there life time have as least lied to someone or themselves at one time or another. I know I have... hell, there was even a time when I had a real problem with lying. When I think of it now, I must've been borderline pathological, as I found myself lying, for no apparent reason, or for reasons as shallow as having others think better of me. But, I digress... these days I am an avid practitioner of honesty. Life's bumpy road has taught me the value of being real and genuine. As a performer I spend a fair amount of time, escaping myself, portraying lives and stories not true to my own and, in a sense, playing make believe. Living as such, makes my desire for truth and genuineness in my everyday life a necessity. Still, no matter how much I embrace truth in my life there are always reason, justifications and temptations to lie.... especially to myself. 

I often have to remind myself that people are responsible for themselves, that its not my place to protect others with white lies, or hidden truths etc; because once those truths are exposed (as it usually happens), it usually hurts them (and that relationship) much more than it would have, had that person been allowed to prepare and fend for themselves. It's this same logic, when turned around to myself, that won't allow me to get caught up in the traps of illusion, and self denial. I am reminded that I need to face the truths (harsh or otherwise) about myself, to continue to learn and grow on this journey called life. No one's perfect, but as I continue to better myself, I am learning that facing the truths, that others so easily lie to themselves about is what helps (and will continue to) make me stronger, wiser and a better; a better actor, a better person, a better man. So I'm learning, the best thing I can do, for myself and for those around me, is to be honest, to (respect and) allow us all to deal with the reality of life as it is. And thats not to say 'yes... lets all just go around, smacking down others and crushing peoples feelings in the name of the truth'... there is a line between being truthful and honest and being brutally honest (which just seems to be tainted with the intention to cause pain). However, in the grand scheme of things I'm learning more and more... that those idealistic lessons taught in my early years (by the same people I probably learned a bit about lying from) are indeed true. Honesty really is the best policy.