by C Tanner

Created on: October 12, 2009   Last Updated: October 13, 2009

Aside from the fact that most of us, well at least in my case, were taught from a very young age NOT TO LIE, honesty has many benefits to any type of relationship. I have found that my personality craves the truth, regardless of how hurtful or disturbing. Life is full of surprises as it is so wouldn't it be refreshing to at least always know what your being faced with in your relationship rather than be left to wonder or worse yet, believe something that isn't actually the truth?

Trust and communication are the building blocks of all relationships. Even what seems to be a harmless untruth communicated to your partner, if found out (which almost always happens eventually) will undoubtedly breakdown the trust in your relationship. Dishonest behavior usually stems from one person not wanting to hurt the feelings of the other. While that may appear to be noble, you have to really examine just exactly what kind of truth you're hiding and if withholding your true feelings isn't actually more hurtful.

Unfortunately from time to time some "ugly truths" emerge in a relationship but no matter how tempting it is to bury them to spare your partner's feelings you're better off being completely honest and giving your partner the opportunity to deal with the issue. Being honest even about the little things will actually strengthen the trust your partner has in you. We all know how easy it is to keep something from someone if we choose to but by choosing not to lie our partners realize that we're being honest not because "we have to" but because we want to. No matter how disturbing the matter is, you at least know exactly what you're being faced with and you'll respect the person for at least having the courage to be honest especially when they could've easily kept the truth from you.

Now it's fairly obvious that BIG issues aren't worth being dishonest over since they usually come to bite you in behind if you try. Let's address the small, seemingly harmless issues...those "little white lies". What may seem harmless enough to you and/or your partner may not be so harmless in the long run. We all know that lying and being dishonest is something people do when they did or feel something they're not proud of, don't want confrontation or wish to spare someone else's feelings. But before you convince yourself that you're doing this for someone else's good, consider the dynamics of the thought process your partner goes through if any of these "little white lies" are revealed. If

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