January 17 - And The Lies... Shall Set You Free.

Welcome to the blog.

Today we take a different run at things. I want to start today with a question. Can we exist without lies? That is the topic for today. Can we as a people, society, individuals, businesses, and world as a whole get by without the gift of lying? Will I be able to answer this question? I dont think so. Will I try? I dont know.

Lets begin. I will throw the first stone and say that I am not a completely honest person. Now when I say that I dont mean to imply that Im not trust worthy, or that I live a constant lie, but I would say that I lie each and every day. They are, more often than not, tiny white lies. "Im doing well today", "The seats you just paid $90 a ticket for are great!", "That starbucks coffee was worth it!" etc. I often lie about my age, weight, height and things of the like. But why? I suppose it puts a sugar glaze over everything to make it easier.

I think that is the major reason this world runs on lies. Its easier. Why get in an argument with somebody when you can say "im fine"? Why have your girlfriend get mad because you said "No, those jeans dont make you look fat, but your ass does"? Why have your boyfriend feel bad because you didnt say "Oh that was the best I have ever had". Lets join in and scream it from the mountain tops people! A new mantra for a lie-less world! YOUR ASS IS FAT, YOU'RE SHIT IN BED, AND IM NOT OKAY!

So lets say this. We live a life with no lies. Life is a tiny big tougher. One of my favorite quotes is "If the mountain was smooth, you couldn't climb it". So, inch by inch, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand we re built our lives and ourselves. And yes that is a directly stolen line from "Audacity of Hope" by Barack Obama. See! The truth. And it works! If we all quit today. If we slapped on that Patch of truth and detoxed from bullshit, we can do it! Can we do it? Yes we can! When will be start? Maybe tomorrow when I get back from using that gym membership I bought.

I have cheated on women. I have cheated on tests. I have lied to family. Small lies. Big Lies. I have done them all. I cheated on women because I didn't want to be as involved as I was. I sought affection from other women because I wanted a love that I could control. When I say that I dont mean that I wanted to control women, but that I wanted to be able to say... this is what this relationship is... casual, or sexual, or friends, or what have you. I have cheated on tests, because who the fuck cares about math. Want me to calculate a tip? Sure. Want me to budget and produce a show that cost thousands of dollars? done. Did i use any of the math I learned in grades 8, 9 and 10? NOPE! The basics from elementary, and then a couple of business schools. Do i regret cheating on women? Some, yes. Do I regret copying the answers out of the back of my grade 8 text book and using those to do my homework? No! Dont put the answers in the back of the book. And for the record Mr Low, I purposely got some of my homework wrong so I would average a B and you would never know. Who have I hurt? Nobody. Did college check my grade 8 math scores? Not yet!

And family lies? Well lets be honest. You dont want your parents to know when you have sex, and you dont want the rest to know you dont really like them. I mean that about close family. I have lots of family that lives in the Rocky Mountains, I haven't lied to them. Dont really know them that well. I always felt like they pushed my mom away when my dad died. My mom never said anything of the sort, or talked bad about them. In fact, she always had nice things to say and encouraged me to go to all the family events, but I think its the impression I got as a kid. Who knows. If they did it, im sure it wasn't on purpose. I would like to grow closer to them again. I hope that happens.

So. I can live an honest life on my own. But what about other things? I have friends who have cheated on their wives and husbands. Friends who have skimmed off the top at work. Friends who DO in fact have quite a bit of grey hair under those beautiful natural brown locks. What about them. Do i go out of my way to tell the truth. If they arent willing to tell the truth, should I? I dont think so. But is not telling the truth a lie? OOO excellent question. Yes a lie of omission is a lie, but is not going out of your way to tell somebody the truth a lie?

I watched a commercial the other day that was an ad supporting a cleanse/detox. This commercial went on to say that the average person... hold on now, it gets a little nasty, but stick with me and its worth it... the average person has 5 - 10 pounds of "Fecal Plaque" sitting in their intestines. How nasty is that? If its true it means that if we dont do the right thing, and make the right choices we have extra weight to carry around for no reason at all. Nobody wants to detox, so doesnt it make sense that we should do the right thing before it gets to that point? I think so. Will we? Sure, right after I use that ab cruncher thats sitting in the garage. The things that bump their way quickly to the "Shut up and tell the truth" category are the ones that I know, if I dont do it now, its a secret I have to keep for the rest of my life. I was at the movies once, and was standing behind a man who didnt know I was there. He farted. When he noticed I was there he said "Oops! Better to let it out and endure the shame than hold it in an endure the pain". 2 gross stories in a row, but I think they are fitting.

So where are we now. I believe the life we had, leads us to the life we have. So if I start telling nothing but the truth, no matter what the outcome might be, where will it lead me. If I let go of the control and let this boat steer itself, where will I end up? Yes, I will go through stormy seas, but at the end will I find a bright and warm paradise? Or will i simply sail off the ends of the earth.

So, here we are at the end. Have I answered the question? Nope. Did I try? I dont know.