Free Write

Honesty. Can one lie to someone else, without lying to himself as well? It seems to me that if someone has lied to someone else without lying to themselves, then they are simply mistaken, and not lying at all. Where do these lies begin in the first place? Self justification and self deception is the beginning of the lies. Lying is self motivated but not self beneficial in the long run. Lying is a virus that can spread and corrupt the soul faster than any cancer to the body. But before dishonesty can exist outside of someone it must first infect the host. The Savior taught, “the truth will make you free.” So where is the jump from feeling the joy of telling the truth to living a lie that leaves you utterly empty? My wife is still asleep. Only I hear the baby crying. My first impulse is to hurry and get up and take care of him before he wakes my wife up. Instead I succumb to wanting to go back to sleep. Then I think about how I have to get up a lot earlier than she does because of the important meetings I have at work the next day. Why isn’t she getting up? Its her job to take care of the baby in the first place. She is so lazy sometimes. The cycle of lies continue. In order to begin the lies, I needed to first deceive myself. In essence, I have intoxicated my self of my own volition. Self deception has led to self betrayal.