Lies KILL Relationships!

Lies destroy. Lies hurt. Lies kill.

 

Yeah, I am getting straight to the point and I'm hitting this one hard.

 

Believe the Bible or not, that is up to you, but here are a couple of things it has to say about lying: "the devil...is a liar and the father of it." (John 8:44) and, again, in reference to the devil, in John 10:10 it says, "...does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy...".

 

Again, believe it or not, but the main point I want to make with that is that LYING IS EVIL and is bent on DESTRUCTION.

 

It doesn't matter what level of relationship you want to consider, LIES KILL RELATIONSHIPS!

 

I really want you to encourage you to seriously consider this. No, I'm not going to get into this senseless discussion of "little white lies" and all of that other silliness that so many want to waste time with - LET'S GET REAL.


 

We ALL hate it when we feel that we have been taken advantage of by some salesperson due to them telling us a lie or lies in order to get us to buy some product. We will complain to anyone that will listen to how angry we are at this injustice.

 

And you should be.

 

But, think about this - that person doesn't even know you. No matter how much they want to try to convince you that they have your best interest at heart, they don't know you and they don't have much of a relationship to you or with you. YES, it is still wrong for them to lie to you and to be deceitful. BUT HELP ME OUT ON THIS - why then, do we treat those that we DO have close relationships with such abandon and lack of care by lying or accepting lies?

 

Lying shows a lack of HONOR and RESPECT for a person. There is NO honor or respect when there is the existence of lies.

 

We talked about the idea of being devalued by others. This is a prime example. PAY ATTENTION.

 

When you lie to another individual (and I don't really care if it's a customer or your best friend or your spouse) you DEVALUE that person and you also DISRESPECT that person!

 

When you allow others to lie to you and, even once you discover this habit, you allow that practice to continue, YOU are ALLOWING and ACCEPTING that persons DEVALUATION and DISRESPECT of you.

 

"For every good reason there is to lie, there is a better reason to tell the truth." - Bo Bennett

 

And, we've likely all heard this quote from Sir Walter Scott: "Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive."

 

Relationships - at ANY level - matter.

 

Treat them that way and see what happens in your life and in the lives of those around you.

 

And, as you do so, be sure to...

 

"Make it an AWESOME day! (Who else is going to do it for you) "

 

Mike

 

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Live a Life of Truth

Live a Life of Truth

Truth.

One definition found at dictionary.com for the word TRUTH is "conformity with fact or reality".

That pretty much sums it up, doesn't it? What we SAY or DO - if it's based on TRUTH - will conform with FACT or REALITY.

IF it's based on truth - don't miss that point!

All week long I have been discussing our tendency to live a life of lies in many areas and, particularly, in the area of our own progress or lack of it toward our goals and dreams.

We do it to make ourselves feel better yet, in the end, we actually feel worse. We not only make ZERO progress, we actually take several steps back when we live this life of deception.

So now - as always - it is totally up to YOU as to whether you want to keep living that way OR change and live a life of TRUTH.

Yes, sometimes the truth does hurt! But again, how has living a life of lies and following the path of least resistance worked out for you so far?

Unless you've gotten so far away from truth that you've become callous to it - the more you've lived a life of lies the more the truth hurts when you are exposed to it and challenged by it!

There's no where to hide when you remove the excuses, is there? It's basically you standing there naked before the TRUTH about you and your efforts.

But now think about it this way... this can be very exciting and one of those "life moments" that can change the course of your own personal history!

IF you decide to act upon it.

Once you begin to live a life of truth - even when it hurts and even when you'd rather take the easy way out and lie to yourself - the easier you will find it is to live this life of truth!

You will become disciplined and better prepared for this journey toward your goals and dreams.

Hey, have you ever began a workout in order to get in shape? Was it easy at first? Was it fun at first? Did you quit right off?

Many do quit too soon because of the very fact that it's not easy or fun. So, they give up and continue to live the unhealthy life that they have lived for so long and THOUGHT they wanted to get away from. Until they found out that it wasn't going to be easy!

But then there are those that fight through the pain and the sweat and the unpleasantness of getting your body to do what it is unaccustomed to doing - MOVING! Those that stick it out begin to see results and begin to find that the longer they do this exercise routine the easier it becomes. And, yes, torture becomes more of a challenge and even fun along the way.

Why? Because you're body (and mind) has begun to adapt and make the changes that come with the discipline practiced to fight through the first and most difficult part of the program.

So it is with living a life of truth.

You can give up and quit because it's not easy or you can tough it out and DISCIPLINE yourself to stick to your decision to make positive changes in your life.

And, yes, you CAN do it!

And I'm here to help you any way I can. Just remember that deception and denial will lead to nothing but disaster and that TRUTH can actually set you free!

Think about it and then begin to live a life of truth!

And, as you do so be sure to...

"Make it an AWESOME day! (Who else is going to do it for you?)"

Mike

Life Without Lies

Life Without Lies

Deception is such a waste of time. It doesn't matter what area you might be talking about - deception or lying never proves to be a positive move. EVER!

Just think of all of the times we have all watched people (many times politicians) try to hide things in their lives only to be found out. And, usually, it cost them their dignity, their families and their jobs.

For what reason?

The same is true with the tendency to lie to ourselves as we have been discussing in the last two entries. What good does it do? What has it done for you so far?

HOW HAS THAT WORKED OUT FOR YOU?

Not so good, huh?

Instead of feeling better about yourself (which was the reason for the lie in the first place) you now actually feel worse than you could ever have imagined.

When you wake up to drink from the cup of HONESTY you find that you have done nothing but hurt yourself - and maybe others - in the process.

How so?

You have hurt yourself in that, not only have you not made progress but you have actually taken several steps backwards. You may have hurt others IF your desire of your goals was to improve the life of not only you, but your family. How has this helped them now?

Have I been too rough on you this week? Hey friend, if were were honest with ourselves and were disciplined enough to kick our own butts from time then you wouldn't need to have it done by someone else.

Agreed?

So, here's the deal - WHAT NOW?

It is totally up to you. The next step depends 100% on you!

It always has and it always will.

I will tell you this, though. Breaking away from a life of deception is not easy! You will likely need some help from someone that you trust and that CAN and WILL help hold you to some accountability. And, even at that, you can easily tell them to go take a hike when they call you on your deceptions.

But, you CAN do it and, if you really desire it, you WILL do it.

We'll talk more about that process in tomorrow's entry.

Until then...

"Make it an AWESOME day! (Who else is going to do it for you?)"

Mike

Lies Prevent Progress

Lies Prevent Progress

We began the weeks' thoughts yesterday by talking about the tendency we have to lie to ourselves about all kinds of things.

Sometimes we do so in order to make others think a certain way about us and, many times, we do so in order to try to make us feel better about ourselves.

Here's the bottom line TRUTH of the matter: As long as you continue to lie to yourself about your progress (or lack of it), you will NEVER make progress!

We can convince ourselves that we really are doing all we can when, in TRUTH, we know that we really aren't! We can line up a whole list of "reasons" (cover up for EXCUSES) as to why we "can't" do this or that when, in TRUTH we know that it just isn't so.

So - how's that working for you?

I ended the podcast for this topic by observing that we usually lie to ourselves to try to make us feel better when, in reality - IF we are really serious about making progress - we feel anything BUT better about ourselves when we do this.

Are you sick of it yet?

Until you DO get sick of the lies you will continue to wallow around in the lies and stay right where you are - in that mud pit.

It's up to you!

Tomorrow we'll continue this discussion a little further --- please be thinking and getting REAL with yourself in this area!

And, as you do so...yes, you CAN still...

"Make it an AWESOME day! (Who else is going to do it for you?)"

Mike

Can You Handle the Truth?

Can You Handle the Truth?

I'm sure that one of the first things that comes to your mind is that famous line from that movie where the statement is made, "You can't handle the truth!", right?

But, in all honesty (truth?) we must be willing to ask that of ourselves - can we (can YOU) handle the truth when it comes to yourself?

In many areas of our lives it is VITAL that we be honest with ourselves ABOUT ourselves. My guess is that you could talk to an psychiatrist and they'd tell you that one of the main causes of a lot of people's emotional problems is this very thing --- not being able to be honest with themselves.

I would also guess that if you were to ask those that work with people having financial problems you'd find the same thing - people that are unwilling to be HONEST with themselves about their situation.

LIVING IN DENIAL.

That's why one of the first and most important steps with ANY sort of addiction is the realization and admitting that one does, indeed, actually have a problem! One of the problems has been DENIAL of a problem and, many times, there has also been a problem of some sort of denial with a family member or family members.

You can likely sit down and think about this and MAYBE admit that, in your own life, this is a struggle for you in several different areas whether it be financial, health and weight loss and/or a myriad of other areas as well.

So, here it is, bottom line: in the area of self-improvement or just the thought of making progress in your desire to reach your goals and dreams - ARE YOU BEING HONEST WITH YOURSELF about your EFFORT and your ACTION?

The truth is that many -if not most - are not.

Go back and visit all of the excuses that are usually disguised as reasons.

We'll be talking about this all week and I hope you 'll join me on this journey to "get real" with ourselves and begin to finally FACE THE TRUTH about who we are and what we are doing.

WARNING: This will not likely be easy or pleasant.

But, it IS necessary.

And, yes, even as you consider these thoughts, you have the ability to...

"Make it an AWESOME day! (Who else is going to do it for you?)"

Mike