lie¹ [lahy]noun — plural noun: lies

1.  a false statement made with deliberate intent to deceive; an intentional untruth; a falsehood.

Synonyms: prevarication, falsification.

Antonyms: truth.

Lies

Lies – we’ve all told them.

We started when we were toddlers, touching things we shouldn’t – we were scolded in an attempt to stop us.  We did it when we were children, tipping over the lamp and claiming we had no idea how it happened – we were sent to our rooms.  We did it as teens, going to parties after the big game – we were grounded.  Then in our twenties, making up stories why we were late again for work – we were written up.  We did it in our thirties, but consequences became more serious – we lost our jobs, our marriages, or our savings.  In our forties we weighed out the loss vs. gain, from lying, but still gambled the lie would be worth it.  In our fifties we began to see the value of telling the truth and recognized the drama lying brings.  Our sixties brought the revelation —  it’s just easier to tell the truth!

TELL THE TRUTH…

Wouldn’t it just be EASIER?

I get it; we lie to protect ourselves, to keep from hurting others, to cover up an addiction, to be someone we’re not, to impress, to hurt, and to hide the truth. Oh and let’s not forget it’s also done for greed.

And while it feels I can’t escape the lies, I sit and wonder where the truth can be found?

We used to think the printed newspaper held the truth and news reporters too. And encyclopedias held the truth or even the internet.  Or believed doctors and drug companies and the FDA told the truth.  We believed the people we elected looked out for our needs and that of the country.  “Used to” being the key words here…

It’s near impossible to believe the written word, or the spoken word, or the reported word. I examine everything I see or read as if it has been edited, photo shopped, cropped or twisted to mean something else.  I question advertisements, commercials and billboards. For every story that is reported there is a rebuttal on another station. Every article written there is a fact-checking site to question the validity.  For every speech given, there is a YouTube video showing a contradictory speech.  Then there’s Facebook and social media which just exasperates the lies. Instead of a grain, I’d like the whole truth.

Is it just me or does it feel as if the truth we were once taught as a child has been substituted by the much easier path of lying?    Lying has become the norm and has added an extra layer of stress to everyone’s life.  The fact-checking and researching is exhausting and time-consuming!  I think as a society we’ve become numb to the lies and accept it as the new standard.

A few of my requests…

• Please admit that the eggs I buy from free-range chickens are not free-range at all.
• Explain why you have to add crap to my milk, fish and meat.
• Share with us why you have to spray our fruits and vegetables with poison in the name of progress, when you could charge more by producing them organically. Check the prices out at the grocery – organics definitely cost more money.
• Dear Government, say you’re sorry for having an ego that prevents you from voting in sensible legislation.
• And replace the money that’s been paid into Social Security – it was not yours to use.
• Apologize for holding sports figures and actors at a higher level than the individuals who volunteered to protect their freedom so they can do their well-paid thing.
• Stop lying and generalizing that everyone is evil, or racist, or homophobic.
• Please tell the truth in advertising, in news reporting, in article writing, and in food production.
• Stop lying to get on the news – it’s annoying.
• Don’t promote a pharmaceutical if a natural cure has been found to work.
• And big corporations, who know their crap is going to hurt us, find another business to invest in – please?

I know someone, somewhere still tells the truth – hopefully those would be my children – but I’m talking about people who we have hired to legislate for us, people who we have hired to grow our food, and people who we have hired to take care of our health or report our news.

We are their employers; we pay their salaries, why do we keep hiring dishonest people?  Are we just lying to ourselves?

Grateful to you, for letting me vent…

Sheree