The Last Word

By Emerson Walker | Posted: Tuesday September 3, 2024

I know there is usually a prefect up here, however, they ran out. So today you have me. I have decided to talk to you about honesty.

Every time you answer a question you are making a choice; how honestly will I answer? This point can be obvious at times, like when your mum asks if you finished your internal, or when I ask my friends how well this talk went, however, this concept can go far further. 

What do you want to do when you leave school? What are your goals in life? 

Are you happy? 

These are all questions that we will feel we are required to give the correct answer. We often find ourselves responding in the way we think will be the most impressive or 'right'. For example: I want to become a doctor, I want to help the community, or yes.

I understand many of you may be completely honest in your responses, however some of us will think “What answer can I give to impress this person? What can I say to make this person feel better? What can I say to make sure they don't worry about me?” We feel we are required to give the correct answer, rather than the answer we truly believe. 

Ye said, “If every time someone asks you a question you try to give the right answer, your entire life is a test."

Think of the most stressful moments in your life, many of us will say exam season, or during driving tests or job interviews. If this is true, why are we making our entire life a test? If every time we are asked a question we treat it like a job interview, making sure to say the right thing, we are always trying to meet someone else's standard, we will never be able to relax, be honest and real. 

There are often times when we will feel like we are giving answers honestly, without knowing we are being untruthful. This is due to us not being honest with ourselves. An example of this would be me taking on this Last Word, telling Lachie and myself I had time to complete it despite having 3 internals due the same week. 

This is a more light-hearted example, however not being honest with yourself can have far worse consequences. An example of this is when we are in a bad mental state and are offered help or asked, “Are you ok?” Instead of accepting the help we need, we reject it, convincing ourselves we are fine when there are much deeper problems that need to be brought forward. Continuing to lie to ourselves and ignore our problems will only lead to a build-up of issues until it's too much to handle. Think of a backpack that you keep putting books into without taking any out, eventually, it will become too heavy and make you collapse.

Pair this with the stress of your entire life being a test, no wonder many of our young people are feeling constantly stressed or anxious without seemingly having a load of work or stress on their lives. 

In the future when giving an answer to a question, don't feel the need to be correct, instead just give an answer. This will not only make you less stressed but the person you are communicating with will know what you actually think, taking one more book out of your backpack. 

In Otago Boys' fashion I will finish with a quote; a verse from John chapter 8 verse 32: "And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”