Celebrate National Honesty Day Every April 30

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On the last day of April we celebrate truthfulness, candor, openness, and frankness. It’s National Honesty Day, a day to tell the truth openly and frankly.

And truth is important. Without it we don’t know who or what to trust.

Lies have a way of catching up to us. Like the boy who cried wolf, we may find nobody believes us when we finally do tell the truth.

M. Hirsh Goldberg created Honesty Day. He chose April 30, the last day of the month, to contrast with the falsehoods we celebrate on the first day of the month, April Fool’s Day.

But was a desire to end the month on a more positive note than it begins the real reason for the day?

Some of his critics suggest Goldberg just wanted to create a market for his book, The Book of Lies: Fibs, Tales, Schemes, Scams, Fakes and Frauds That Have Changed The Course of History and Affect Our Daily Lives.

More charitable people suggest the idea was to commemorate the truthfulness embraced by revered leaders like George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.

At any rate, we’re supposed to celebrate the day by being truthful.

 

Other Honesty Days

The U.S. isn’t the only country with an honesty problem.

Canada celebrates a National Honesty Day on April 1, right along with April Fool’s day.

Italy celebrates honesty the Sunday before Christmas every year (we’re not sure what they do when Christmas is on a Sunday).

And to be perfectly truthful, our celebration should just be called Honesty Day, because “national” days can technically only be proclaimed by Congress or the President. Neither has done so for this day.

Scroll down for some ideas on celebrating this honestly unofficial holiday.

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Ideas to Celebrate National Honesty Day

Evaluate yourself (and be honest!). Do you regularly lie? Are they big lies, little white lies, lies of omission? And why do you lie? To protect someone else … Or to protect yourself?

Even lies to protect others are still lies. Are you absolutely sure they’re necessary?

Try to be extra truthful today. If you make a promise, be sure you can keep it.

If you’ve lied to someone recently, consider meeting with that person to clear the air.

Ask friends and family to answer your questions honestly today (and maybe even every day?). Tell them about this day to explain why it’s so important to you to get honesty at least for this one day.

Nominate an honest person you know for next year’s Honest Abe Award.

Read about lies and honesty:

• Spy the Lie: Former CIA Officers Teach You How to Detect Deception, by Philip Houston
• Body Language: Read Body Language and Learn Human Lie Detection Using Everyday Scenarios, by Sarah Goldberg
• 935 Lies: The Future of Truth and the Decline of Americas Moral Integrity, by Charles Lewis
• Living the Truth: Transform Your Life Through the Power of Insight and Honesty, by Keith Ablow, MD
• Radical Honesty: How to Transform Your Life by Telling the Truth, by Brad Blanton, PhD
• The Honest Truth About Dishonesty: How We Lie to Everyone–Especially Ourselves, by Dan Ariely

 

If you’d like to help your kids understand the importance of honesty, recruit the Berenstain Bears to help in The Berenstain Bears and the Truth, by Stan & Jan Berenstain.

 

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