Dealing with Lies

What do you do when someone lies to you? It's probably happened to you several times today. People lie for so many reasons -- to spare your feelings, to fool you, to avoid work, to navigate blame, to gain an advantage...even out of laziness.

The trouble with lies is that they are always inevitably discovered. What has become a disturbing trend is that even when someone is caught in a lie, they often simply just lie again. They lie about the lie. They lie about the truth. They lie about whether you should even care if the tell the truth.

Geez.

We've all told lies, but there comes a time to stop. There comes a time when the lies pile up so high that we can't even try to see our way to the truth. There comes a time when the lies cut relationships to shreds and turn communication into dread.

There comes a time when no matter how dramatic or risky it may seem we should tell the truth. Exclusively. No lies at all. That time is now.

Now is the best time to deal with lies. First (and I'll do my best on this, too) simply tell the truth. No near lies, no pretend ignorance, no lying by omission. Zero deception. When someone asks you a yes or no question, give them a straight answer instead of tap dancing your way to obfuscation.

Be bold. Be brave. Tell the truth.

-- doug smith

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