Someone I didn’t know but was somehow connected with through a series of unfortunate circumstances shared this phrase with me a while back. It sticks to me daily because of how simple yet profound the statement is. The circumstances to which it came up is in itself very interesting, quite shocking and eye-opening to me but not one I will bore anyone with. I am not one who likes lies but as I journey through life, I see it as a prominent contributor to everyday living. Sometimes we lie to save ourselves from hurt, or simply to save others from hurt or simply because it’s just easier to lie.
Do our lies mean we are bad people? Does it mean we have no regard for the person being lied to? Do they not deserve our truth? Does it mean we love the person any less? Does it mean we have no moral sense of right and wrong? At what point is a lie too big? What lies can we forgive? Which ones are unforgiveable? These questions I have no answer to. Lies I know can hurt, some can boost our confidence, some are necessary just so we can live ‘peacefully’ and move on.
I am not one that favours lies mainly because lies eat me up. It reflects who I am as a person. I find myself to be my own worst critic and I can’t sleep well knowing I have sprayed some lies over the course of the day. Don’t get me wrong, I do ‘lie’ at times but not the kind of lie that hurts but mainly the kind that wants to avoid hurting people. Such an irony right? As I try to justify my lies. What makes my lies any better that the other person’s lies.
But back to main point of my note, when we lie we need to understand that our lies if found out have consequences and the question we need to answer is whether we can handle these consequences. Whether we can deal with the aftermath of the pain and hurt our lies have caused…truth be told, at some point the truth and lies may take different routes but they end up on the same level where they are face to face where in most cases truth prevails but then the damage is done.
Are our lies then worth it?