The Truth About Lies

Lies. Truth.

What makes one so easy to do and one much more challenging? Why do some people lie frequently and others rarely do? I, by no means profess to be a moral truth detector or a person to whom lying is unlikely. I have lied and probably will again. However, I am always amazed how small lies can end up being so damaging long term. A good friend of mine once said, “You don’t need a good memory if you always tell the truth!” So true.

Recently, I was watching a drama series and was amazed how the ending was so tragic and violent. As I reflected on the show, it dawned on me how senseless this unfortunate event needed to be. The whole ordeal started because someone was keeping a secret. A secret, I may add, of which paled in comparison to how the ending unfolded.

In this case, the protagonist cheated on a prestigious college entrance exam. The person was caught and quickly lied and soon professed some kind of injustice or error. Someone had evidence of the deception, blackmail ensued, of which then an argument that eventually led to, of course, an accidental killing. Next a coverup at a very high level, which gets exposed and another death followed by countless lives ruined or destroyed. For what? Cheating on an exam?

It seemed so unnecessary. But this is Hollywood right? Not really. I have to imagine if we “reverse engineered” many tragic endings or unfortunate situations, many start out very unremarkable and inconspicuous. Small lies and untruths build momentum and become larger lies. After watching enough shows over the years we all know by now that the coverup is normally worse than the lie itself!

Live Undeterred! Jeff