“Be honest with yourself, and you will find the motivation to do what you advise others to do.” ~Vince Poscente
What if you could only tell—and more importantly, only
believe—the truth? Not the half-truth, the white lies, or the other grey in between, but the pure, beautiful, and unadulterated truth.
If I had to pick one super power, it would be to know the liars from
the truth-tellers. I would walk around in public places, eavesdrop on
conversations, and know immediately if someone is lying or being honest.
I would go to social events and exercise my super power by posing my
burning questions to friends and strangers alike. I would sit in the
courtrooms of the world, and know instantly if the victim is lying or
telling the truth. How fascinating, how disconcerting, how shocking it
would all be!
Most of all, though, I would use my super power to listen to the
voices that I hear in my own head, from the loud inner critic, the large
ego full of opinions, and the years of social conditioning and
upbringing; and I would be able to tell, without a shadow of a doubt, the lies from the truths. Oh yes!
I grew up in Tehran, and witnessed not only the horrible 1979 Iranian
revolution but also the terrible war that ensued between Iran and Iraq.
Even though I was very small, I remember the horror, the bombings, the
sirens, and the oppression.
Mostly, I remember the way our teachers would brainwash our small
little minds and fill it with the new regime’s lies. I remember that our
families needed to play it safe while still helping us draw some faint
distinction between those lies and the truth.
I moved to America when I was 15 years old, and today, even though I
know the difference between a lie and the beautiful truth, some days the
inner critic returns and insists on the lie.
But I don’t think I am alone. We tell ourselves lies, half-truths, and anything but the pure truth every day.
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