Stop the Madness!

I have come to realize in this day and age that lying has become the norm in our society. Quite shocking and extremely hard to live a "real" life in the midst of it.

When we got our cat the previous owners told us all about him. "Merlin, does not like his food without the bowl being on the food mat, he loves baths, he doesn't like people much, very skiddish, likes to actually say the word "hello" in the morning, hates it when the vacuum cleaner is on (so do I), etc." We found out after much love and affection that Merlin, the world's most awesome cat, loves people (sometimes too much), eats whatever, whenever, wherever, but doesn't like to be alone when he eats, HATES with a passion baths (duh, he's a cat), doesn't give a rat's behind about the vacuum cleaner (bummer, I thought we were kindred spirits on that one), and last but not least, to everyone's shock and amazement, he cannot say the word "hello". However, he can talk "meow", an ancient feline language only understood by humans under the age of 10.

Here's another example. Upon an invitation to a birthday gathering a 17 year old confirmed that he would be attending, but in a different conversation with the maternal unit of said teen it was relayed to me that she would have to reconfirm in private whether or not said teen actually wanted to attend, because this maternal unit's children often lie to people and then in private tell mom and dad they don't wanna. Sure, I'm comfortable with that...........I could've gone a long time without knowing that one. Is ignorance lying? Now I'm never sure when we're around each other whether anyone wants to be there or not.

The best one I can think of to date is a story my dad loves to tell about my oldest brother and a little friend of his when they were probably 4 or 5 years old. My dad was going to take them out for lunch and when he picked up this little girl from her house, her mother proceeded to tell him how she didn't eat certain foods, i.e. hamburgers, fries, etc. OK then, off to Mickey D's they went anyway to pick up lunch. When ordering he turned to the little one and asked her what she would like to eat for lunch. She said very confidently, "A cheeseburger happy meal." Dad inquired, very confused, "but your mommy said you didn't like to eat those things." To which she replied, "sometimes I fool my mommy!"

Why is it that we find it so hard to be honest? What makes it ok to teach our kids to keep the truth from others? I find it so hard to decipher whether or not people are being honest or just being "nice" by not telling the truth. Like that's gonna help. In this season of political banter, congressional sized untruths, corporate coverups, mistrust in the market, I think it's time we call for a change in ourselves to be more honest with one another. There is a reason why we don't trust anyone from Wall street to Pennsylvania Ave. to Hometown Road. It starts at home.

I am just really pleading for my own sanity here. I do not like to be surprised after a "real" fake conversation that it was all just a ruse. Be Real. Please Be Real. It's ok to have faults. Celebrate your personality, like it's your own....duh. God made us the way we are for reason. You were made to fit snuggly into another's life journey at different times and different seasons. You're messing with the Big Guys plans when you hide yourself and the truth. Don't hide from that for fear of hurting feelings, rejection, or heartache. Be yourself, your beautiful, wonderful, odd, quirky, ever-so-perfectly created by God self. And for goodness sakes, if those pants DO make my butt look big please tell me!!!