There’s always a wide gap between what we profess and what we act. Our words and actions most times are in constant conflict. As humans, we are prone to hypocrisy, which makes it a challenge to reconcile what we say and what we do. Hypocrisy and forthrightness are intuitively similar concepts, though not morally equivalent, but both typically imply a link between words and actions.
Naturally, in our false sense of pride, in our attempt to do what is right, in our conviction that our ways of seeing and doing things is the correct one, we often believe ourselves to be forthright while others are perceived as evasive. In so doing, we gain a perverse kind of satisfaction and obscure the truth, which leads to the wrong interpretation of our deeds.
Forthrightness as it pertains to this essay is beyond the dictionary definition, which highlights qualities like being honest, genuine,
and candid as being forthright. Forthrightness entails being straightforward and ensuring that there’s no gap between what we profess in public and what we live in private. It condemns hypocrisy and promotes credibility.
A large number of children came into the world with some fascinating open mind and an inborn sense of fairness, justice, and forthrightness. These inherent gifts need to be nurtured from the cradle. Their energies and psychic abilities need to be channelled from hearing the truth to speaking the truth as well as doing the truth. They need the courage to be forthright to the world around them. Parents, teachers, and caregivers need to nurture a culture of character, courage, understanding, and critical thinking, which is geared towards inculcating a life of uprightness in children. By so doing, children are raised through a culture of character as against a culture of personality.
Forthrightness is a virtue that embraces more character development and less personality development. Whilst character development entails digging deep and building the core ethics of living, personality development is about working on the outer sheen and engaging in what others think instead of developing a stronger inner wisdom.
Children and youths need to be forthright in doing the right things and making the right decisions, at home, in school, and in their community. In a bid to be forthright, they need to bear in mind three things.
1. To admit that we are not perfect, nobody is. We are fragile, frail, and broken people who offend ourselves, others, and God. We must acknowledge this weakness as something we all have in common, irrespective of age and status.
2. To have frequent self scrutiny and regular self-examination. We all have blind spots that we may not be aware of and need to look at our behaviours, attitudes, habits, and prejudices to see if there are inconsistencies between what we profess and how we live.
3. The need for constant adaptation and conversion. There’s always a need to change, to grow, to mature from our mistakes to our expectations. What attitude and behaviour do I engage in that needs changing? It’s hard to live like we’re perfect, so we need to keep engaging in attitudes that will change us for the better.
4. To be careful in dictating to others and criticising them about how they live or how they should be or should not be while running the risk of losing sight of how we should live.
In the words of kamand Kojouri, you have to be transparent, so you no longer cast a shadow but instead let the light pass through you. Forthrightness is choosing the life-illuminating path that reflects on our life and the world around us.
*BIBLE VERSE*
*Proverbs 11:3*
*The integrity of the upright guides them, but the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them.*
*PROVERB*
*Hindsight is the best insight to foresight – Learn from your past mistakes to avoid making new ones…Irish Proverb*
*RIDDLE*
*If you’ve got me, you want to share me; if you share me, you haven’t kept me. What am I?*
*Amara Ann Unachukwu*
