I believe in being honest. My father taught me at a young age to always be honest. However, I wouldn’t learn until later that what he told me had a deeper meaning. I always thought what he had told me was that I should be honest with everyone and tell the truth, which is not wrong. My dad used to tell me that if I always told the truth I wouldn’t have to worry about who I told a certain lie to. Nonetheless, what I think he really meant is that you should always be honest with yourself too. From my experience, our self honesty comes from our experiences and what stories we make up in our minds. These “stories” could be things our parents taught us, our teachers taught us, or things your friends say. Sometimes these stories can be outrageously far fetched and fictional. I think we create these stories to protect our egos and preserve the thought of perfectness in our minds. It is no easy task to be honest with yourself. Being honest with yourself is a 24/7 task. You have to work on yourself all the time, be conscious of what you say, do, and ask why you're doing it. It is especially hard to do all of this during hard times and life changing moments. To break free of the stories you tell yourself, you have to step into another mindset outside of your own. Although that may sound impossible, it really isn’t. Being 100% honest with yourself happens when you are focused on something that is outside of yourself. You can truly unlock “real” when you become so emerged into something that your idea of who you are leaves your thoughts, that is when honesty is achievable. I really think it is most important to be honest with yourself to strengthen yourself. If you are unable to point out your weaknesses and flaws, you can’t grow stronger. I think someone has to break themself down so they can build themself back up correctly. I think you benefit a lot from being honest, you become almost fearless, you become more grateful, you gain clarity, and most importantly you can become more of yourself. Honesty is the best policy.