Photo by Brad Gillette

Liar. Liar: Are Your Pants On Fire?

Racing down the hill as fast as I could I sped toward my friends house. Hair flying across my face I was in a race. If I went fast enough, no one would know.

“Honk.”

I looked up just in time to see my dad zipping past me with a face that said. EXCUSE ME?

I’d just told him I was at home. Because I was grounded. And I of course I was at home or at least I was suppose to be.

Turning my bike in a large circle I crept up the hill. I knew I was in trouble; I’d lied.

Liar. Liar. Pants on fire.

We’ve all done it. Stretched the truth, withheld information, exaggerated, stayed silent, allowed others to assume our silence was agreement or yes when in fact it was anything but.

Funny, it’s easy for me to spot someone else’s pants afire. But my own?

The weird thing is lying is an inside job. To lie to you; I first have to lie to myself.

I lied to myself that day decades ago, telling myself, “He won’t know, it’s not really fair I’m grounded anyways.”

Lying to ourselves makes it easier to lie, deceive and withhold the truth from others. Sometimes we don’t even know we’re lying, we’ve so bought into our own warped perception of reality, truth. “They’ll never know, just a little won’t hurt, I deserve this, They owe me, He doesn’t care, She won’t check…It’s really not a big deal, I don’t have a problem, this is not a big deal…”

Are your pants on fire?Are you burning up trust, are you burning up the trust of those who love and care for you?

Lies burn things up. Mostly lies burn up trust. And trust, well it’s the glue, the bond between people. When it’s gone…so too usually are the people.

Are you telling a story, withholding the facts, exaggerating, deceiving yourself because the truth is well just to dang painful or so hidden under layers of denial, it’s unrecognizable?

I read in a Good book, “The Truth Shall Set You Free.”

Liar. Liar. Are Your Pants on Fire?

Pam Hoelzle