We all know that "the truth shall set you free" but free from what? Free from the worry of being caught? Free from the stress and strain of maintaining that lie? Free from dealing with the lie because you just saved yourself some trouble and time?
I know the original statement is from the Bible and of course the Bible is full of wonderful lessons to learn and to live your life accordingly. But how can a person live your life in a world of lies? No matter where you turn to or go to, there are lies all around you. Whatever city you currently live in, there is several lies always being told. I am not talking about a major city; it can also be in a small town or even a small community of people. There is always something that people just don't want to talk about, so they lie to themselves and each other about things.
Let's take for examples, one big lie that every minor to major city has...homeless people. We all know that they are there, because we all see them throughout the day. We may glance at them as they walk by or push a shopping cart by. But no sooner than they are out of our sight, we go right back to telling the lie that everything is fine. We lie to ourselves and usually say "well at least I don't have it that bad" and then quickly put the image and thought of the homeless out of our minds. Please don't lie to yourself and say that you have never thought these things. Some people of course just ignore the sight of homeless because they can't comprehend the concept of being homeless. So again, we lie to ourselves and pray that the nightly news does not bring this tragic sight into our homes as we sit down to eat or sleep.
Have you ever been in a situation where you thought "yes, I am doing the right thing" just because you do not want to deal with a situation? Now if you say no, then you are a liar. Everyone has had some uncomfortable, tough or life changing situation be presented to them and you choose to take the easy route. You made the choice that you made because you thought it was the right thing to do because you would get less grief and less discomfort. Then to support your choice you told yourself "it's the right thing to do". As soon as you put that statement into your mind, you protected yourself from feeling bad about the choice for a short period of time. I say a short period of time, because every choice has an action and reaction associated with it. The reaction may take years to come around, but in time you will have to deal with your choice.
It seems like when you "do the right thing", you are really telling a lie to yourself and being untrue to yourself. How many lies do we force into our everyday life? Just because it is the "right thing to do" does that make it the truth to how you feel? I can only answer for myself, but I would have to say no. If you are doing something just because it is the right thing to do yet, you did not really want to do it, then why do it at all. Does it matter to you so much what other people will have to say about you that you will do it and add another lie onto your life?
Even in relationships between friends, lovers and partners, there are so many lies placed in the relationship; it is amazing that people can accomplish anything together. Have you told your significant other something to make them happy even though it is not the truth or how you truly feel? Did you say it, because you don't want the drama or tension, or did you say it to prevent hurt feelings? Even though it seems like you did the right thing for the other person, what damage did you just do to yourself. I have heard people say, "To thy own self be true". But if being true to you means hurting someone else, most people will just go along with the lie for days, months and many years.
How often do you find yourself telling a loved one a lie just to spare their feelings? If you truly love this person, and they love you in return, why can't you be honest and tell the absolute truth? Isn't it better to deal with the truth because the truth helps with growth, whereas a lie causes you and the person you lie to, to just be stuck. The more stuck you feel it seems the faster you miss out on the pleasures of life.
I always thought that as long as you have the "lines of communication" open, people can talk about their situations and be completely truthful, since truth should set you free. But I think we all lie to ourselves so much that when we do have a truthful moment or situation, it just feels wrong to be truthful. I know I would prefer the truth instead of someone doing or telling me something because it was the "right thing to do". I can learn from the truth, even if my feelings would be hurt, I can still grow and try to make changes.
If you are reading this, I would like you to do one thing for one day...try to remember everything you do tomorrow and then at the end of the day, write down or type something up to say if each event in the day was the truth or a lie to you. You don't have to share the results; I just want you to see it for yourself. Since it is something that only you will see, be absolutely truthful with yourself and determine if you did the truth or did a lie. When you are done with it, see if you are one of the three: human, saint or liar.
(Human, makes mistakes; saint, makes no mistakes; liar, makes mistakes and then lies to seem like a saint)
I hope your results showed that you are human, otherwise, if you are a saint, then you better get to a church and have a statute made of you soon before you wake up from your dream. If you are a liar, more than likely you are because you just lied again when you couldn't admit to yourself that you are human.
What's the moral to this story, nothing, because if I gave you a moral it would be a lie. Just figure out what you want to take from this and try to tell one less lie to yourself per day. After about 15 years, you might make up for the lies you have told yourself up to this point in time.
