By Brian Lewis
www.guardian.co.tt
There is an African  saying: “you can’t stop a pig from wallowing in the mud.” There are some people who don’t seem to appreciate that the truth outlives a lie. Too many of us forget  that white lies still end up leaving black marks on one’s character and reputation. Stretching the truth never bears fruit. A lie will always come back to haunt you. The truth, if persisted with, will always win. Given our value system, honesty is certainly not popular even though it’s the right way to be. It can be very difficult when nobody wants to either believe or accept the truth. But the crux of the matter is that  denying the truth will not stop it from being correct.
There are some people who would have you believe that two half-truths make a whole truth. That’s far from the truth—lie once and you have to continue telling lies. I well remember my mother telling me “always tell the truth, and you never have to remember what you said.” In most sports, a substitution can be made for tactical reasons or if someone is injured or not playing well but when it comes to the truth there is no substitute. There is no adequate replacement for honesty. Long time we were always told ‘show me a liar and I will show you a thief.’ How can you trust a liar? If someone lies and then tells the truth. You will hardly want to believe that the truth is the truth. What example do we set when we teach our youth to tell lies? Simple things. Let your yes be yes and your no be no. A lot that is now wrong will fix itself if we demanded honesty.
When you have to make a choice to be silent simply to protect a lie. It weighs heavily on your mind and soul. Honesty that’s what we need in this little twin island Republic. We need more people who are unafraid to stand up and speak the truth. There is so much that we can do and achieve as a nation and as a people if we would only take a step back and think about where we are heading and what it is we are really doing. What’s our purpose as a nation, society as a community? What drives us? What motivates us? What inspires us? There is never a best  or a proper time to try to correct what is wrong? Lies and half-truths should not define how we interact with each other. Honesty should.
As we get ready to celebrate 50 years as an independent nation. There is no better time. Pause. Take time out. Slow down. If we really want to move forward with purpose the start point has to be honesty. Sometimes our success as individuals and as a nation only aids us in hiding the truth. We celebrate and parade and go through these intensely euphoric moments and occasions. All that happens is the reality, the truth is masked. The truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth is all that matters.