The way people perceive you and the things you do can make or break your reputation.
Some people say one thing and do another and they can be relied on for nothing. Those types of people are a dime a dozen. Then there are the people that say what they mean and do what they say. Those people are rare in today’s society and truly a gem to find.
Then there are those people who speak from both sides of their mouth and do whatever they want, only later to say that they meant this or they meant that. They try to get you to believe what they perceive is the truth. The problem with people like that is they can’t be believed. Just like the little boy who cried wolf too many times, when they truly need someone to believe them it will be too late.
Telling a lie to cover-up another lie only leads to more lies, and pretty soon the liar doesn’t know what the truth is. It’s easy to slip into that mode when it’s just a little white lie. What defines a lie as being little and white and what is a big ole nasty lie? A lie stinks no matter how you tell it.
I’d imagine that someone who constantly lies probably lives a pretty miserable life. Constantly worrying about being found out has to weigh on ones conscience. It has to be hard to be this way around some people and another way around other people. Being whatever and whomever you feel others want you to be has to be tiresome.
My mother used to always know when I was lying, no matter how hard I tried to convince her. It’s taken awhile and I don’t have my mother’s intuition, but I have come to recognize certain patterns of behavior in my own son. Poor kid can’t get much by his old man, as he likes to call me. There’s only 23 years separating us and the world has changed a lot, but not that much. I tell him that perception is a tricky.
Perceived deception is just as bad as being an outright liar, and we all know what happened to that little boy who kept crying wolf.
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Paul Barry is the managing editor and can be reached by email at paul.barry@vicksburgpost.com or by phone at 601-636-4545 ext. 123.