It's so sad that the world we live in today, most people have lost their conscience and don't care about having virtues anymore. We see a lot of people do things to a fellow human that they won't like if the same treatment is melted on them. To me, Virtue means exhibiting a morally inclined character, It also means having a strong set of values, being compassionate, and treating others with respect. Having virtue also involves taking responsibility for your actions and making ethical decisions. From this definition, we can see that virtue broadens to different parts of life, and is not limited to one character, it ranges from contentment, honesty, trust, dependability, faithfulness, love, etc
No doubt we are human and perfection is far from us, still, there are some important virtues we must all possess no matter what, Sadly, the one virtue that would have made the world more peaceful and crime free place Honesty is gradually going into extinction in the heart of so many individuals. Right from childhood, I took honesty as a serious part of life, all thanks to my mum and dad who replicated the true meaning of honesty from their lifestyle, even as businessmen and women, My dad would commonly say, he will rather work and earn his little income in an honest way that make millions cheating others.
If someone can't be honest with little things how will they be entrusted be bigger opportunities, I hate it with passion when people cheat others intending to gain more income, looking around us today, it has become the norm in society.
The measurement cups or scales for buying foodstuffs are being tampered with, while some others give you lesser quality service and demand a higher price from you, do you know that money earned from dishonesty cannot be utilized in a better way for one's growth, instead, they end up squandering the money in useless things.
In my early days as a designer when I couldn't differentiate all types of quality fabrics from the inferior type, I once had a client who needed a quality fabric to make her dress, so I decided to meet with a woman In my church who sells same fabric, as that would be the first time working with the fabric, I needed someone close whom I could trust to be honest with me, I emphasized on quality, no matter the amount, because I also knew there was fake circulated in the market, the reason I decided to patronize her since she was close, she told me the price differences between the inferior and quality, I paid for the quality, without knowing I was given the fake, I made the dress with it, only for my customer to come for fitting and was disappointed that I bought the fake fabric instead of the original. I felt so bad and cheated, I apologized and explained the situation to her, and somehow the woman believed me, She said she did due to my history of honesty with her and told me to change the vendor I patronized. I thanked her and had to remake the dress when I finally found an honest and dependable vendor whom I have been patronizing to date.
As for that church member of mine, that was the last time I patronized her, I lost total trust in her due to her dishonesty no matter how hard she tried to convince me, there were huge deals she would have gotten from me after that transaction, but that single act of dishonesty closed that door, if I hadn't had honest dealing with my customer, I would have also lost her for this very bad mistake.
This teaches us that we shouldn't be after the little gain we get from cheating others as it can block the entrance to bigger opportunities.
This post is in response to the hive learners contest week 77, edition 1.