Lying and the way people lie

Yesterday I got told that I was lying when I wasn’t. Ok, maybe it wasn’t in those exact words, but I was told I’d not done something when I could remember distinctly that I had. I argued about it, in my usual way  - I’m not an aggressive person, so I said quite rightly that I wasn’t lying, and then proceeded to say that I’m not one to lie about that kind of thing.

Well, that was the truth. But amidst the crazy, angry side of me, wanting so much to storm down to the person who I’d been speaking to over the phone and give them a piece of my mind - which I didn’t, because I’m not like that at all - I wondered how many times I’d actually lied about something.

As a person I can say I’m pretty honest and candid, and so many people have commented on that including my friends, my parents, and even my boss. I don’t lie about the big things, and it’s rare for me to lie to someone to their face unless it’s a question like: ‘How are you today?’ and stating ‘I’m good’ or ‘I’m fine’, when we’re really not fine at all.
How many people have done that? How many people say a little white lie to people because they don’t want to hurt someone’s feelings?

I’d like to say I’m completely honest and candid, but I wonder if there is anyone who is. 

I found an interesting article ages ago and remembered it yesterday, produced by the Daily Mail (UK for anyone International) here.

It lists the top ten things people lie about (and that men lie apparently twice as much as women) and I remember reading it the first time and thinking, wow, I’ve probably used a few of those excuses at some point in my life as a lie, and I’m sure I know at least ten people off the top of my head who could say the same, and have said them to me as well. 

So I was annoyed yesterday. I still am. I hate being called a liar because that’s not me, but I can’t call myself completely honest because how many people can say they speak only the truth, constantly? 

If we didn’t have lies, I think the world would be a less interesting place. I’m not talking about the bad ones here. I’m talking about the stories we tell people where we maybe push the truth a little to make it interesting. I’m talking about the myths and legends that we still half-believe today (some of us) across the world, but are probably so twisted with half-truths themselves, how can we say if they are true or not? It makes me think of that game, Chinese Whispers, and how just going round a circle of people a sentence will become completely distorted.

So lying is in human nature. Telling stories and twisting the truth is part of who we are and in some cases it can make life interesting, dynamic and creative. We certainly wouldn't have all the films and books today if we didn't tell tall tales.

Today though, I still want to remain honest to myself and to others, and I still maintain that, most of the time, I’m no liar.