You’re being lied to.

[“No, no, no, no one is lying to me.  The people in my life tell me the truth.”]

You spoke up quick!  I’m so glad.  How have you been?    ….but yeah no.  You’re being lied to, and a lot.  People tell you lies all the time, and some of them are big ones.

[“…well, I guess people tell me white lies sometimes, but just to make me feel better, or to keep me safe, or because they love me.  I do it too sometimes.  Those don’t really count.”]

Yes, they do count.  And YES, you do it too, and way more than “sometimes.”

Whether disguised as half-truths or white lies, lies are still lies.  They still count.

Sometimes we tell ourselves lies because we need to feel better.  We  intentionally convince ourselves of something that isn’t true, because dealing with the lie is way more palatable.  “These pants are tight, I must be bloated from p-week.”  (Couldn’t have anything to do with the family size bag of –itos I ate for lunch yesterday, but whatever.)  Sometimes we don’t THINK we’re lying, but we purposefully avoid facing something we don’t want to acknowledge.  Avoiding truth is still lying.  “She’s my MOM, I know she loves me.”  (Nevermind that you feel sick dread before you see her, she drags you through the ringer when she’s with you, and you feel like crap for days after you’ve visited.)

When it comes to truth and lies, there is no middle ground.  Things are TRUE, or they’re not.
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