"An honest man's the noblest work of God."~Alexander Pope







An honest man 


This is a story of a young man named Ping, who lived in a far away country and a King who was getting old and he needed to find a successor.
So, the King devised a way to find his successor that would have courage and be honest.
The King sent out a tiny seed to all the young men in the country.
Now, this seed was to be planted and nourished to the best of each young man's ability.
Ping really wanted to be the new King. When he received his seed he went out and obtained a very beautiful pot, fertile soil and planted his seed.
He watered it and nurtured it and watched it.
BUT, nothing happened.
He moved his plant to another area with more sun, thinking it needed a different light. He watched it and watered it and nourished it and still, nothing happened.
He went to his father and asked him what he could do. His father suggested putting it into another container and continue to nurture it.
Still nothing! He was so disappointed and the times was drawing near, to go before the King and present his plant.
The day finally arrived to present his plant to the King and Ping was so embarrassed, because everyone there had beautiful plants.
Some had beautiful flowers, some with beautiful green foliage and they all were so very beautiful.
He was so embarrassed and disappointed that he sat in the back with his empty pot so he wouldn't be noticed.
The King started to look over all of the plants and he was not smiling. In fact he was frowning.
He kept looking and all at once he saw Ping's empty pot and he called Ping up to the stand.
And the King announced to all the men that Ping will be the next King.
The King said Ping would be the next best King because of his honesty.
The King also expressed his disappointment and sadness that there were so many dishonest men.
The King continued to tell the men that he had boiled all of the seeds before he sent them out, and so none of the seeds would grow.
You see, the King wanted someone with courage and honesty to take over his Kingdom and he found it in Ping. 
~Author Unknown










P.S:
We grow up being told that honesty is the best policy.......(but so very often see evidence of it being preached more and practised less.)
However,integrity and honesty are always a part of the authentic self.
It takes a great deal of courage.....to be honest with others and even more courage to be honest with oneself.
It allows us see ourselves as we truly are and sometimes makes us feel vulnerable........but I do believe that we can never change anything...... especially about ourselves.....unless we have the courage to face it.So honesty is indeed the best policy.
Namaste,
Bhagya