LiveScience.com recently published an article titled, “Why we lie.”

I hate lies.

After watching millions of commercials and reading countless billboards, we’ve all grown accustomed to lies. Stretch the truth. Leave out a few details. Make yourself look good. Feel good.

We’re used to people lying to us. We even lie to ourselves. The LiveScience article suggests that we actually believe those lies.

Deceive.
If you carefully choose your words so that they are officially accurate but lead someone to believe something which is not fully true… That’s a lie. We see this all the time during television interviews. The reporter asks a tough question, the company spokesman or the politician pauses, spews out just the right words… and says nothing! These people talk all the time, but they rarely say anything. If you tell only part of the truth, and leave out important details… that’s a lie.
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Do you know what upsets me more than being lied to? Someone suggesting that I have lied. Wow, that makes me angry. During my junior year in high school, a teacher accused me of cheating on a spelling test. Ooooh! The steam coming out of my ears must have convinced her of my innocence.

Honesty.

I’ve realized that this is a characteristic which I highly value. When people gather at my funeral, one of the things I want them to say is, “She was honest.”

A few days ago, I got a short email from a friend saying that she enjoys the “honest glimpses” of my day-to-day life that I share on this blog. Wow. I really appreciated that little phrase.

Honest glimpses. That’s what I want to write.