"Truth Has Become Brilliance"

My friend Tom Maggio said this on a call last night and it really stuck with me.

Although I believe that people are good, I would be lying to myself if I believed that people were never deceitful or untruthful.

The question, as usual, is "why"? Why do people feel they need to hide the truth? Who are they protecting? Themselves or somebody else?

So here's some truth... I lie all the time...

I told my son that Santa Clause, The Easter Bunny and The Tooth Fairy are all real. I actually had a really hard time with this at the beginning (actually I still feel shitty about it). "It's part of the magic of the holidays" I tell myself. I also do it for other kids because I do not want my son to ruin it for them. Although perhaps that last one is also for my son so that he's not the one who ruined it for them. Is it more for the kids or for us parents? Are we trying to relive our childhood through them?

I don't know the answer but I do know this: The truth feels good.

I'm actually looking forward to the day when I tell my son the truth about these things. If he's like me when I found out, he'll just accept it and move on. Although there's a good chance he'll be heart broken. How will he feel knowing that his mommy and daddy have been lying to him? It's all for a good cause, right?

We often trick ourselves into lying because we believe it's the "right thing" to do. In my experience, it just sucks energy out of us. It takes way more energy to make up and maintain a lie than it does to tell the truth.

Truth is our natural state.

Tom, perhaps truth has always been brilliance. Thank you for this thought provoking statement ;)