Thursday, December 19, 2013

The Truth, the Whole Truth, and Nothing but the Truth

    You know what I hate more than anything else? Lies. To lie, in my opinion, is one of the worst things that someone could do, whether it is big or small. Once someone starts to hide things from others, especially the truth, we begin to deal with darkness. Fear, paranoia, and animosity are just a few of the many feelings that begin to creep into our lives and our dealings begin to become more and more secretive, closing others out of our lives. To lie is to be without honor.

   Now, that being said the truth when not handled with care can be like a diamond thrown at our head. It doesn't feel good, not at all. But if presented with care, we are able to see the beauty that lies therein. So I am not advocating the careless and or thoughtless divulgence of the truth, because the plain and simple truth is: sometimes the truth hurts. Bad. So when handled with care rather than recklessness, the truth is able to help us grow and develop ourselves as people and individuals.

   Now you know what I hate even more than a lie? Fictitious or fraudulent people and hypocrisy. That to me, is even worse than a lie, because not only are you trying to deceive me and other people, but you are legitimately deluding yourself. And to me, that is the worse part. When you fall so far as to have to lie to yourself because of insecurity or lack of personal direction that you have to adopt a purpose that truly you don’t believe in, that is when I feel bad for a person.

   I am a very opinionated person, it’s true; I often times disagree with the opinions of those I associate with, but at least I know I hold true to my convictions, whatever they may be. And although I don’t see eye to eye with others about a lot of things, I can respect those whom truly fight and stand up for their convictions. That I can respect, hypocrisy and fraud on the other hand I cannot stand.

   If we can’t even trust ourselves, and what we preach, our “so-called” ideologies, then who can we trust? There is a quote once said by a leader of a Christian church, he said, “To be trusted is a greater compliment than to be loved.” Wait, but isn't to be loved the thing that we would all like to have? Isn't being loved by others the reason for which we do everything? Friends, family, significant others, don’t we do everything we do because we love them and we want them to reciprocate that love to us? Well, yes, it’s true but the fact is that we can love someone yet not trust them. I can love a friend, but doesn't mean I’m going to trust them with my deepest and innermost thoughts or feelings. How many times has that backfired in your face? I know it has for me, and unfortunately I may have even been the one pulling the trigger once or twice in my younger years.

   But now I have realized what it means to me to be able to trust someone, and just as I expect my secret or better put sacred, thoughts and feelings to be kept quietly by those whom I chose to tell, I now strive to do the same thing because that is what a truthful, honorable and trustworthy person does. And because I strive to always do that, I feel fine in saying that I hold all others to the same standards that I hold myself. There is neither hypocrisy nor deceit in that, because I live the standards to which I hold others and I wouldn't have it any other way.

   So, that being said, while I strive to be the best, most honest, truthful and straight forward person I can be, I feel that it is fair for me to expect others to aim for the same standards. It doesn't mean that everyone and their dog has to see eye to eye with me, nor does it mean that I am immediately going to condemn all those who fall short and lie to me because that would be hypocritical of me and against my beliefs about forgiveness (see my other post, Survival of the Fittest:Going Against the Grain to read about how important forgiveness is to me). But don’t go telling me one thing and then trying to hide the TRUTH behind my back hoping that I will never find out who you really are. Because let me tell you a little secret I've learned with time: lying ALWAYS comes back to bite you in the butt. You can’t hide the truth forever. If you are a Christian, you believe in judgment day and believe me, it’s all coming out then. If you are a Hindu then you believe in karma, and we all know what they say about karma, she is a hard one to get along with.

   Or even if you don’t believe in God, we have a saying that teaches us about this, “What goes around comes around.” And for all of you scientists out there like me, Newton’s third law isn't just about physics; it is an eternal principle that not only governs forces, but our actions as well. For every force there is an equal and opposite force acting on the system; for every action there is a consequence that is inseparable with that action.

   So if you do something, do it with the conviction that you are doing it for a worthy cause, because whether you like it or not, that consequence is coming right back at you. And if you aren't ready for it, it’s going to be more than you can handle. If I choose to smoke, drink, and have unrestrained and reckless sex with whomever I choose, well I better not be complaining when I become an addict, drunkard, or find that I’m HIV positive. It’s simple: action produces reactions.

   I see daily people complaining for things that have happened to them, and honestly nine times out of ten the reason they are having problems isn't because God has cursed them or is punishing them for something they have done, rather the natural consequences of their actions are what have produced the pain and anguish. So if you aren't absolutely convinced that you are doing something for the right reason, I might suggest that you think twice before doing it, because if you don’t have that conviction the consequences are going to seem a lot worse than they should be.

   We all make mistakes, I've made more than my fair share in this life, but the thing is every mistake that I have made has helped me to grow and develop the convictions that I have now, and you can see and feel through this post. I didn't just start hating lies over night, this has been a long process for me, and honestly the saying “it takes one to know one” is very true in this case. I, as stated before, am not perfect and after a long period of time in my life in which I was without conviction, without truth in my life and basically living a lie, trying to convince myself that it was all ok. Those experiences have produce who I am today. Light and dark cannot coincide in the same space, and I now choose to walk in the light.

   Light chases away the darkness, and if so desired we can fill our lives with light, leading to the dispersion of that darkness that so tightly grips our society. Faith in anything is better than not believing in something. Hope is more powerful than fear. Light chases away darkness. The truth sets us free from the lies and deceit that lay waiting to enthrall us in its gaping jaws, binding us and enslaving us in its chains.

   So don’t give into societies pull. Don’t advocate that which you truly do not believe in, because reality is that you will fail every time. Trust me, I know, I've lived it personally and it isn't fun, nor is it enjoyable. Life is too short and too precious to waste fighting for a cause that isn't what you believe in or isn't who you are. Stand tall, be vocal about your views and about how you feel, because if you don’t you will always be unable to truly liberate yourself from the lies and the falsehoods that society forces upon us. We all have a duty, a God given right to exercise “certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”. That is what so many have died to defend, that is what so many have sacrifice to give us today, we should thank them by pursuing those rights and searching for that in which we can truly believe, something that is worth fighting for.

   So whether you agree with my views or not, at least do me a favor and believe in those views as much as believe in mine. Fight for those things, but don’t ever try and infringe on the rights of another to believe or hold dear a conviction which they have, because then you just become a hypocrite and a liar yourself. How can you fight for your right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness while robbing others of theirs…

   Now that just doesn't sound right to me, nor should it sound right to anyone who seeks the truth in all things.

As always, with love,

Will Glade


The one walking beside you.

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