The Braver Truth

Honesty is not spotless hands
or a mouth that has never trembled.
It is not a life without shadows,
nor a story told without edits.

Honesty is courage—
the kind that stands unarmed before the mirror
and says, This too is me.

I once thought truth was a straight line,
clean and uncompromising.
Then a child, small as sincerity itself,
taught me otherwise.

She said,
“I am not honest,
because sometimes I lie.”

And in that simple confession,
wisdom unfolded.

For honesty is not the absence of falsehood,
but the presence of accountability.

It is the strength to speak what is real,
and the humility to kneel before what is not.
It is telling the truth
even when your voice shakes—
and owning the lie
when silence would be easier.

Honesty is not perfection.
It is responsibility.
It is choosing truth again and again,
even after you have failed it.

To be honest
is to be human without disguise,
brave enough to tell the truth,
and humble enough to admit
we sometimes