Sleeping Lies Will Dog You - Grasshopper

“Everybody Lies” claimed my favorite TV doctor – Gregory House. What he didn’t tell us is that our trail of lies leaves a scent, and leaves us open to hounding from within and without.

We cannot escape our lies by lying to ourselves because denial has a certain smell that our inner canine can sniff out quicker than beef jerky.

 

We always know we are lying about something, and at some level, so does everyone else. It may not have consciously registered with them yet, but they have a sense that something’s off, but can’t put their finger on it. Since we know we’re lying, we won’t be able to get that dog off our trail.

 

Dogs have a great sense of smell. Don’t believe me; just put a doggie treat in your pocket and watch them follow you around “like a puppy dog.” Our inner dog can smell a lie from a mile away, whether it’s another’s or ours. It won’t leave you alone as long as you keep that lie alive.

 

Lies come back more often than bad pennies and they will hound us with feelings of guilt and shame and all sorts of emotional pain.

 

It’s a given that you’re lying about something - either to yourself or to others. The way to get a dog to leave you alone is to quit feeding it. When there is no longer anything to feed on, you won’t get eaten alive.

 

“Stop lying” is the remedy to get the bloodhounds off your trail. Start with the “little white lie” that you’ve been telling for years. Just stop telling it. No one is going to miss it and you’ll feel better as a result. Then work your way up to the “Big Lie” - the one that every dog in the county knows, and put it out to pasture.

 

For extra credit, admit to the lie in public or to the person you’ve been lying to. This takes a bit more courage than just stopping to perpetuate the lie, but it will take the scent of lying completely away - allowing the dog to look elsewhere for prey.

 

A lie is not secret; it’s just out of sight, not scent. Stop lying and, as they say in the backwoods, “Watch the dog get up and went.”

 

All the best,

John