Honestly, I Am Not Telling The Truth

Do you ever notice that our lives are filled with avoiding the honest truth?  Everyday we partner up for a dance of inaccuracies, fabrications and misrepresentations.  We hope that no one will see through our cloud of deceitfulness and point out our dishonesty.  We are taught as children that lying is wrong and that with a fib comes immediate punishment or ramifications.  But as we become adults, we learn that the rules of lying are more of “guidelines” shall we say.  In most cases, if you were to be dishonest, you might lose the respect of those around you, but most likely you wouldn’t be sentenced to a good old fashion canning or stoning…although I believe that Chinese water torture does sound rejuvenating.

So when has it become socially acceptable to lie?  It all started with the “white lie”.  Which basically means to fabricate a minor detail in order to protect or shield someone from the hurtful reality.   Just like when I told my mom that I loved her Christmas sweater.  This thing was covered in bells and trinkets that jingled when she walked, just in case someone didn’t notice that Christmas was the most magical day of the year to my mom.  Forget about the day that her smart, intelligent, and freakishly beautiful daughter was brought into this world.  You don’t see her bouncing around in a hideous sweater to announce the birth of her incredible spawn. But, if I told her what I truthfully thought of her sweater, I would have hurt her feelings.   Hope she is not reading this….

But what happens when our fear of hurting someone’s feelings or possibly losing the respect from others inhibits us from living life with our best intentions in mind?  Sometimes we do things that we don’t want to do, just because it will make others feel better.  This can go as far as creating a back-story or omitting details to the point that we almost start believing the lies we tell.  But, at some point, we need to stop and ask ourselves, “Am I being truthful and honest?”

This has brought me to a stage in my life that regardless of how difficult it may be, I want to be honest with others and myself.  Below are a few of the areas I will be focusing on…

To be honest with others.

-Even if I think that it is a worthy cause and truly want to help, I will learn to politely say no when I should not be taking on any more projects or extending myself to an unhealthy length.

-If I do not know the answer to a question, I will admit it.

-I will not respond, “I am fine” when truthfully I am angry, sad or evading.

-I will not lead someone on out of fear of hurting his or her feelings.

-To admit when a friend is hurtful, knowing that if the relationship is strong, it will survive my honesty.

To be honest with myself.

-I will admit I know that I will most likely be late everyday and make a valid attempt to be on time.

-I will hold myself accountable.

-That I am vulnerable and sometimes do need help.

-To understand that sometimes letting go of someone I care for is the most honest and caring thing I can do for him or her.

-To recognize my boundaries.

-To say out loud that I have a problem with Frozen Yogurt, and then celebrate the first step in admitting I have an addiction by heading to “Yogurtland”.

Hopefully this blog has inspired you to look at how honest you truly are.  Now, I am going to go eat my Frozen Yogurt.