Painting by Belynda Wilson Thomas
We’re all islands shouting lies to each other across seas of misunderstanding. Rudyard Kipling
To lie is to make an untrue statement with the intent to deceive, or to create a false or misleading impression. There are lies of omission, commission, and lies of influence. Is it possible to go through life without ever telling a lie?
We can lie to ourselves or to others, we can lie about the facts, or what we believe to be the facts, and our values.
What if we don’t see things the same as someone else? Does that mean one of us is a liar?
Is it a lie to tell someone we are having a good day because we want to have a good day even though we are not yet having a good day? Is it a lie to focus on what is good in our lives instead of bad even if the good is not yet evident? Wouldn’t wallowing in self-pity be less of a lie but more disastrous to our well-being?
If we don’t always feel loving towards those we love are we lying? If we grow and change in our lives does that mean we were lying about who we were or who we are now?
We are told by Dostoevsky, “Above all, don’t lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having no respect he ceases to love.”
If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything. Mark Twain
Is the lie telling ourselves we are worthy of something we don’t have, or telling ourselves we don’t deserve more, or maybe even what we do have? Don’t we often try to convince ourselves we’re better than we are? We act better, look better, have better intentions, a better work ethic, more knowledge, and better habits, we are less biased, more compassionate, and grateful than we really are.
Some people think if we believe in anything we can’t see, smell, taste, or touch we believe in a lie. Some people are told their faith is a lie, and it is easy to think what someone else believes in must be a lie if they don’t believe what we believe.
Some visionary people can get us to believe in what seems like an impossible and improbable dream, do we believe in a lie? Some people have faith they will be healed and are but if someone had faith but wasn’t healed did they believe in a lie?
How much of the truth do we have to tell someone who asks us a question before they can’t say we left something out, and that we told a lie by omission? If we believe something about someone that isn’t true is it our lie or theirs?
Liar seems to be leveled everywhere at almost everyone, and it might be true we are all liars in big and small ways. When we see someone we haven’t seen in a long time we tell them they look good. Would it be better if we told them, “Wow, you’ve really deteriorated since I saw you last?”
Is telling ourselves we think we can, a lie in the beginning that through hard work, determination, and perseverance becomes the truth? What if we do okay but never reach the pinnacle of success we told ourselves we’d reach, was that a lie?
We love people with a vision, but what is the difference between a prophet and a false prophet initially?
If we see ourselves as honest, trustworthy, fair-minded, and even-handed, but the standards used to judge these things are not looked at the same by everyone, who is wrong?
If we keep our commitments and only commit to things consistent with our values will we at least have personal integrity? Do we often get into trouble by promising more than we can deliver, but do people also expect more than is reasonable? If someone has unmet expectations about us, does that mean we lied about who we are and what we could do?
We tell lies when we are afraid… afraid of what we don’t know, afraid of what others will think, afraid of what will be found out about us. But every time we tell a lie, the thing we fear grows stronger. Tad Williams
If you do not tell the truth about yourself you cannot tell it about other people. Virginia Woolf
The truth is messy, it’s raw and uncomfortable. You can’t blame people for preferring lies. Holly Black
Thank you for reading this post. I hope you enjoyed it and come back and read some more. Have a blessed day filled with gratitude, joy, and love.
