Somehow I keep hearing that being honest is a weakness, but one thing I noticed from those people is that they don’t think about what you earn by being honest rather, they focus only on the negatives.
We will talk in this article about the differences between being honest and oversharing, how you can be honest and confident simultaneously, and a few other important things regarding honesty.
Is being honest a weakness?
Being honest is not a weakness on its own. Most of the time, it is better, to be honest, and not lie or exaggerate things, especially if we talk about long-term consequences. In some situations, lying might have a better outcome in the first phase, but usually, it is the other way around as time passes.
Some people believe that being honest makes you vulnerable in front of other people but let’s think a few seconds about this situation. If someone is willing to take advantage of you because you have been honest with them, what stops them from bullying you or taking advantage if you are not being honest?
Those people will always find a way to gossip, take advantage, or bully, even if you are not honest with them. Imagine a person that takes advantage of someone being honest and how they will behave if they find out that someone is lying to them.
So yes, being honest might make you vulnerable in front of those people, but what is the alternative? Lying? You might end up in the same situation+feeling guilty about lying.
And one more benefit in those situations is that at least you quickly discover who you need to avoid. It is a good way to sort people around you to know who you should not trust.
Being too honest might be intimidating for some people.
Most people are used to being polite and don’t really say what they think, and that’s why being too honest might intimidate some people around you.
I will be careful not to end up in this category on purpose since some people brag about being too honest, and they end up being unnecessarily rude.
Being honest doesn’t mean being rude, if you don’t like something about a person, you can simply say nothing if you are not asked about it.
Read Also: Is Talking Too Much A Weakness?
Being honest vs. oversharing
While being honest is not a weakness on its own, oversharing your personal life is.
No one cares about your life as much as you do, and by oversharing, you might bother the people around you. That doesn’t mean that they will necessarily take advantage of your vulnerabilities, but the real risk is being annoying and suffocating them.
As we said, if someone wants to take advantage, it will do it even if you are not honest, but if you annoy them with all your personal life stories, you might push them away.
So, before thinking that you are weak because you are honest, it is better to see if you are not oversharing.
You can be honest with people but keep them away from your personal life or the things that really matter to you.
Not sharing your life with someone doesn’t mean that you are not honest. You can be honest and let them know you are not willing to share personal information.
Can you be honest and confident?
Many people have the impression that people that lie or exaggerate their life are more confident than them because they are honest and their life is not so impressive, while in reality is the exact opposite.
Having the courage to be honest means that you are more confident than someone who lies or exaggerates since they feel the need to make things up in order to hide the reality.
I understand that it might be discouraging when you are honest, and someone else is more impressive because they lie, but usually, the people who can be honest are more confident than the others.
When is it ok not to be honest?
I would not encourage lying too often since it can easily become a habit, however, if you know that what you want to say will hurt everybody, including you, and no one will benefit from it, it is better to keep it to yourself or in some situation to lie.
It is more about the intention behind it, if you are lying because this way is better for the other person and it is not a selfish reason, it might not be so bad. And if the truth comes out, you have a good reason for it and will not be judged as selfish.
As I said, there are not many situations where it is good to lie, but we have to be flexible anyway.
Read Also: How To Make Friends In A New City As A Couple?
Conclusion
So, being too honest is not a weakness on its own. It can become a weakness when it is combined with oversharing.
Make sure you are not rude with your honesty, and you should be fine.
