What Is Truth To You?

What does truth mean to you? For me I would rather know the truth as plainly and harshly as possible than be lied to. Lies are a turn off for me and I believe and know they compound issues in the long run. I have never understood those that shirk away from the truth and bury their necks in the sand. I would rather know the exact situation of things than live in denial on a lie. 

Just like the picture above says, the truth isn't always pleasant and it would most likely piss you off most of the time. Nonetheless, I would rather know than remain in the dark at any given time and I would rather tell a truth to someone who asks for it, albeit diplomatically, than lie blatantly to make them feel good.

I've heard stories of people living double lives and I wonder just how they do it. I remember an incident back in my undergraduate days as a Jambite. There were a bunch of us lying around in the hostel when conversation got around to describing our dads fondly (Yes, I'm a daddy's girl). After a few minutes, I noticed that the description two of the girls were giving looked pretty similar and I pointed this out. This led to an exchange of a barrage of questions between them. Long story short, they had the same father and this smooth operator daddy of theirs had been playing both sides discreetly for years. Neither family knew about the existence of the other, as all the poor wives and children on both sides knew was that he was a very hardworking sales man whose job took him around the country a lot. It was not a pleasant discovery, needless to say, as the tears rolled freely and emotions were all over the place. It was a shocking incidence which changed their lives and perception of dear daddy forever.

 

I recall a movie I watched recently, Jack Ryan Shadow Recruit, about a young man who was covertly recruited by the CIA. As a result of the nature of his job, he couldn't tell his fiancee about the spy aspect and this, of course, led to lies upon lies. Naturally, she saw through his lies and endangered her life while trying to find out the reason for the lies. As it turned out, she was far more receptive to the truth than the build up of lies.

Telling the truth and hearing it is also a form of therapy towards forgiveness for most people. I, for instance, would rather hear the truth and work towards forgiving the culprit, work at making myself better and improving things generally than finding out I've been lied to (and I always find out eventually).

How important and effective is the truth to you?