A rather unfortunate part of the human experience: lying. Growing up, I lied a LOT. My mom would tell me, "Nobody will ever be able to trust you if you lie." And I certainly didn't want that! But I kept lying, anyway.
Why?
Well, stripping away all the myriad of potential specifics, it boils down to only two things: manipulation and/or self preservation. We lie to get what we want, or to not get what we don't want.
At this point, I claim unapologetic honesty. But really, that's limited to regarding myself. I'll still lie to protect others when it feels right, which falls under manipulation. I have a rather ambiguous moral compass. I don't let anyone or anything else tell me what's right or wrong, I listen solely to my heart, and that oh-so-important resonation I've mentioned before. Put me face to face with anyone, and eliminate topics pertaining to someone else's safety, privacy, or choices, you'll get the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
The people closest to me know that I'm honest to a brutal degree. I don't mince my words, don't beat around the bush, and I certainly don't verbalize bullshit to get my way. Matter of fact, I've stood in my truths to my own detriment many a time.
But still, they lie to me. And it hurts. I see straight through it, but they still do it. Then, in their bruised ego's wake, they project their shortcomings onto me, to avoid acknowledging it in themselves.
Ah, projections. We'll get to that.
Hurt people hurt people, I understand that. But all I want to do is help people. Help people heal, so they can become the best versions of themselves they can be. How do I convey that undeniably?
I guess just by persevering, and being me. Unapologetically.
Lies! All lies, dirty filthy lies, lol. On a serious note, what about those unfortunate folks whom are delusional, or for what ever reason unfoundedly believe a falsity as truth, whether through some sort of pathology or even mental illness? Even people whom convince themselves into believing information that in reality is unverifiable, I harken to religious people whom have complete faith in something intangible or unknown, or even better, folk whom have self image that is far more grandiose than reality? So the question becomes how is a lie discerned from a truth? One then has to engage in philosophical debates of is perception reality and what if one person's perception is different than many people's perception does that make what they think to be true a lie or does that make what the majority thinks true not true? Honestly these all seem like questions suited to be answered by people much smarter than me and I would never be so arrogant to think that I am the final rule on these topics. Also if you actually do some research you'll come to find there are somewhere in between 20 and 30 different types of Lies. And in the eyes of professionals not all these lies are considered quote-unquote bad lies I believe the standard they follow is if allies told for personal game makes it malicious and quote-unquote one of the bad lies. But really the end of the day the ins-and-outs of lying and why people do it or so complex and so dynamic I'm sure complete sets of reference books and whatnot can be written about it, far more than we could ever fill in this space. So at the end of the day really I just say Live and Let Live if you don't agree with someone else's lies that's your business, at what point I suppose is completely up to you whether or not to pursue for whatever reason bringing to truth that person's lies. I'm not sure if wasting that much of my life is worth it especially when it comes down to trying to convince someone that they are lying to themselves and me when I disagree with things like their perception of reality or their belief systems honestly when you do that it just kind of makes you an asshole. So kids I think the lesson here to learn is Live and Let Live as long as you know what is true who gives a damn otherwise you'll waste your whole life trying to tell people how they should think and feel even if it is true or lie or whatever it is it doesn't matter if you argue someone to death about what you tell them is a lie and they feel like it's the truth once again that just makes you somebody with too much free time on your hands or just an asshole.
ReplyDeleteThis has been a public service announcement from me, the fat man, the false prophet and that, I promise you, that is a lie.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is what the manifestation of defenses in Steve Martin look like. Well, the public version, at least.
Delete