HONESTLY!

Honesty is one of man's most admired qualities and, therefore, a core ingredient for a successful life.  Yet from the beginning of time, lying has caused the downfall of individuals, organizations, kings, presidents and empires. 

Why is it such a big deal to always tell the truth?  The first thing that comes to my mind is self-preservation.  We do something wrong and we know there will be consequences, so we try to cover it up by not telling the truth about what happened.  It starts from infancy and, if not stopped, makes life very complicated.

Truthfulness leads to respect and trust.  Truthfulness is also the basis of integrity which means doing the right thing whether anyone is looking or not.

If we want our kids to have these qualities then we have to tell them why truth matters.  We also need to model exactly what we want from them.  A clear conscience is worth more than anything.

We also have to prepare our kids for the real world.  Dishonesty is everywhere and we need our kids to learn to resist the temptation to take the easy way out.  We want our family's and our children's reputations to be, and to remain, impeccable.