The Lies We Tell...

Everyone has an experience with telling lies. In as much as we don’t like it or we don’t like when it’s being told to us, at one time or another, we’ve found ourselves lying about something. There may be cases where the justifications may have called for it, and in other cases, it was simply not necessary. Because the saying that a single lie begets more lies is very true.

Once you tell a lie, you’d have to tell other lies to cover it up, and before you know it, you’re so far gone that you can’t even trace your way back to the truth. And then, there are white lies that seem harmless, but over time, they could very much do some major harm if care is not taken.

So, in my opinion, the justification for telling lies is subjective. It all depends on the person telling the lie, because as far as anyone else is concerned, you shouldn’t have done that. Growing up, we were lied to by our parents. We were warned that even touching a girl could get her pregnant, and that was something they couldn’t condone in any form. But then, we learned that it was false. And a simple touch couldn’t get girls pregnant. Hell, even a hug or a kiss, couldn’t get a girl pregnant. And that was how experimenting started… soon enough, teenage pregnancies began to crop up all over the place. The very thing that the lies had been designed to prevent.

It’s the same way when you lie to someone who you know very well can’t cook by telling them that they’re amazing at cooking. You think you’re sparing their feelings, but you’re also preventing them from actually learning how to do it better. If you’re the only one they trust enough to cook for, you should be honest enough.

But then, people just think that because they hate lies, they have to be crude with the truth. There are ways you tell the truth, and it will be obvious you’re only trying to sow discord and hate! Telling someone they can’t cook, while it may be true, there’s no reason why you have to make it insulting and offensive. There’s no reason to be rude about it, and then tagging yourself as being “truthful” and “hating lies”.

So, how you tell the truth also matters, and you can tell it in a way that will have the best possible outcome. What about when a life is at stake? Then, maybe a lie would be justified, especially if it’s in a bid to save lives. I’ve also seen people lie about their financial status simply because they want to avoid billing, I’ve seen people lie about their health status because they want to avoid somewhere they don’t want to go, but they can’t turn down the invitation without coming off as rude.

Like I said, the reason for the lie is subjective. While the person telling the lie believes they have to do it, the person being lied to would prefer to be told the truth. Many times, we won’t be caught in a lie, but that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have a ripple effect. And sometimes, we’re caught in a lie, but we don’t know because those we lied to preferred to keep it to themselves. They filed it to be used against you some other time.

There will always be a reason to tell lies, it’s up to your discipline as a person to control yourself. Because you'll be surprised at how easy it can be to tell a lie, even when you don’t have to. And then, you’d be shocked at how easily everything would snowball once the lie is told. And most of all, stay away from those who lie habitually. The chronic liars who can’t seem to do anything but tell lies. You can’t ever trust them. Sadly, they’re usually the kind of people who have lots of friends who also know them as liars.

What a funny world.