Moral Obligation: Form and Substance and Most desirable human virtues

Among the most desirable human characteristics, honesty is seen as a critical attribute that is required for a morally upright personality. Being honest, as opposed to telling lies, necessitates telling the truth regularly and at all times (Darwall 51). Acting the way one speaks and expressing what one intends is critical in the analysis of honesty, to the point of avoiding telling lies even in jest. My three-day experience was very fantastic. It was not a typical moment that characterizes my days in day-to-day activities. Occasionally I was faced with trying times to tell a lie even on the phone but I struggled not to. I just learned that honesty was not part of me 100 percent. Nevertheless, I have learned many lessons following the 72 hour period, and I endeavor to exercise truthfulness, remain honest to even become better in the areas I faced as points of inevitable weaknesses, especially when it comes to dealing with my ego and handling my close friends.

In the guest to preparing for the three days, so much took place. First, I passed through a moment of meditation, scrutinizing my emotions, mental and psychological integrity, which resulted in an unusual feeling. Indeed, it was a new beginning. I wondered whether I needed to keep in the company of my friends as often or choose to stay back in solitude to avoid the temptations of saying anything untruthful. Nevertheless, after meditation, I just learned that the changes I could make in my normal life because of the oncoming three day period would only be the beginning of lies. The dishonesty will be founded on the platform that I would not be myself because I am very social anyway. Therefore, I chose just to be real, lead the normal day to day operations as usual, and meet the challenges I always do, so that my personality is brought to the scrutiny of the test without pretence or exclusion of my general audience. These elements of critical thinking formed the background of my preparations for the three days.

I learned that truthfulness is very cardinal in building up the personality and the character of an individual. A person who is not honest, and hence whose character is unrealistic does not win the trust of anybody, not even that of his close friends. Because honest people keep their words, I just taught myself out of meditation that our society could not be viable, functional, and balanced without honesty. The strength of mind attracts responsibilities, therefore, keeping our word, makes as be able to work with others, and never fear anything because accountability does not become an issue when somebody is honest, as the task of remembering how I lied last time is not necessary, when I just say the truth as it is (Staron 265). I noticed that most of the people I interacted with got attracted to me so much. My friends realized that I had changed all over a sudden. Furthermore, I was struggling to fit in my social groups, as I was struggling to be as truthful and honest as possible. In most occasions, it meant that I had to be quiet for a while before making any responses, as a simple Yes or No could mean a lie. Hence, there was a need for me to subject everything to test, scrutinize all information in the background of conscience, and before opening my mouth to speak anything, I was pretty sure I could table evidence to ascertain my stance.

The honesty I practiced for the period was very significant to my ethical framework. Out of the experience, I was capable of learning that being truthful directly affects one’s personality. The types of friends and the company one engages with changes almost immediately following the efforts to embrace truthfulness (Darwall 45). Listening more and speaking less is a characteristic that defined my personality, hence the increased value of my moral virtues. By telling lies, one is never comfortable, and the peace of mind cannot be achieved, and this became apparent differences when I tried to compare my normal life and the three-day experience.

While trying to be dishonest, it happened to me that the process I was undergoing was very peculiar. Had I planned not to be false right? Therefore, all my actions were rational and reasoning before making any decision was after some limited meditation. Therefore, unlike when I have not planned not to lie, the three-day period was characterized by deep meditation which could help me to abort the process of lying before it happened. There is a lot that will be different in my future life. One is that I will endeavor to speak less and listen more, I will change the company of my friends, and will always reason out, meditate, and subject to the scrutiny of the reason everything that passes through my mind before I speak it out. By so doing, being honest in my daily activities becomes more realistic. This means a lot in a diverse environment, where social, political, legal, and cultural differences are evident. Appreciating diversity and recognizing moral uprightness is very significant, therefore, being flexible to accommodate diverse views from other parties is imperative. Nevertheless, for the sake of truth and honesty, it is always important to argue out one’s point, table the evidence and try to make others see sense in the truthful arguments, as opposed to propaganda and fallacious assertions. As such, biases, emotional states, and singular habits should not be part of one’s decision making integrity to achieve honesty on any social platform. I learned that being honest with myself, and with others, is critical to building enduring relationships characterized by trust. Building these relationships takes time and many interactions. Nevertheless, dishonesty whether intentional or not can derail this relationship building. Therefore, the three-day exercise was a critical way of practising self-awareness in many areas of my life.

Works Cited

Darwall, Stephen. “Moral Obligation: Form and Substance.” Morality, Authority, and Law, vol. 2, no. 4, 2013, pp. 40-51.

Staron, Ronald B. “Honesty, Honesty, Wherefore Art Thou, Honesty?” American Journal of Roentgenology, vol. 174, no. 1, 2000, pp. 260-269.