How honest are we...?

I am like a sponge, I tend to absorb the goodness of others or the positive vibes around me...this post is dedicated to one of my friend whom I met during my management course. She inspired me to write this blog by her honesty...! When we say 'honest' immediately we think about someone who is prompt at returning his debt, not lying and so on.

But when we look at it at another level, there are so many layers to Honesty which I feel is such a glorious quality. It can be expressed in so many myriad ways that at the first look of it 'honesty' may not seem the right word to be used in the context. But when we look deeper at the heart of it, we can see that it is indeed honesty.

Coming to my friend, I was inspired by how she prepared for our exams we had recently. She basically prepares from all angles - studied the text book, referred the net, referred the questions papers, referred to notes (though they were not of very high quality ;-)), referred to friends' to get any related info - basically leave no stone or should I say 'source of info' unturned! How I wish I had prepared like this during my engineering days! Anyways, so she makes sure that the understanding she has about the subject is complete from all aspects and that there is not a single gap left. I feel that the kind of efforts she puts in is just a reflection of her honesty. She wants to get good marks, no doubt but first and foremost she wants to be honest to herself about her knowledge of the subject and she makes sure that she is by putting in all possible efforts. Did I forget to mention, that she is part-time working Mom with two kids! She is not doing it just for the sake of doing it which I feel is a very important aspect of a honest being. Also I think preparing like this will help us remember everything better and clearly which will ensure that we will never forget the essence of what we have learnt. This is very essential in today's competitive world since the more we learn and the more we retain the more we grow in all aspects. I just wish I had met her much earlier probably during my school days but then again, I am not sure that back then I would have been able to absorb all this!

But on similar lines, what with me being drawn more on the spiritual side and all that nowadays ;-), I was thinking about how 'honest' we are in seeking God, our creator. When we can put in so much efforts for our worldly pursuits then how much efforts do you think we should put in to seek out the Divine, who is all powerful, all pervading, all knowing? Are we going to the temple/church/mosque just for the sake of it or to really feel and experience God? For an exam the results of our preparation will directly reflect in the results, but how will we know the results of the success we had in our pursuit of God, how and where will that reflect? Just an open question to everyone...