Lying is the “entry level drug” to every other limitation humans set on themselves.
My mum always used to say, “A person who lies is capable of every other vice.” As a child, I quickly learnt that it was always better to say the truth, no matter how damning.
However, as I grew in the real world, I noticed that lies take on new names depending on the space I get my bread or meat. It can take on names such as moderation, balance, tact, sensitivity, protect, time, political correctness, communicating up, communicating down, read the room, storytelling, surveys and many more interesting coded synonyms.
The world seems designed to break or bury anyone who tells the truth. The only way to avoid being broken or buried is to stay silent. But silence in the face of lies is participation. There’s no escape.
In spite of this, we are not helpless. We cannot resign to being liars. We are more than that. There is always a way.
You can choose to only be in spaces where the truth is valued. They exist.
If you cannot find such spaces, you can create such spaces, and protect them with exceptional desirable results. Results attract disciples, and systems that create desirable results are usually replicated. It takes hard work, but it is doable work.
I am currently working on creating such spaces. Spaces that will help to redesign the world into a place safe enough for the lone voice not to be silenced. Join me.
– Osasu Oviawe
