The
news has reverberated from coast to coast—the apparently
widespread use of performance enhancing drugs among major-league
baseball players. If this does turn out to be true, such
activity is hardly a surprise by those on the inner circles
of these places. It may not have been talked about openly,
but lots and lots of people had to know. Many superstars
may have their records sullied because of these revelations.
I wonder how many others took such substances and hoped
for superstar status but never made it.
In
my opinion, there is nothing wrong with looking for a
competitive edge, as long as, of course, such edge is
legal. I've read some who made a comparison with this
illegal substance use with pro-golfer Tiger Wood's choice
to have laser surgery on his eyes, resulting in better-than-normal
vision. Writers and pundits who pushed the comparison
and suggested the two actions are essentially the same
overlooked two factors. First, laser surgery is legal.
Second, and far more important, Mr. Woods did not hide
the surgery, did not claim he never had it, or in any
other way that I'm aware of lived a lie because of it.
It's the living the lie that causes the problems, not
wanting to get better and better at our given specialties.
Part
of just being human is that live out of a tendency to
lie about ourselves. Frankly, we lie a lot about ourselves.
We diminish our faults, exaggerate our virtues, and work
very, very hard to make sure certain parts of our lives
never come to light. Many people have so much guilt because
of hidden deeds and unacceptable thoughts that they find
themselves bound up by the lies they have told to keep
these things hidden away. People who claim to "tell
it like it is" generally have eagle eyes where other
people's faults lie or secrets are hidden. They are willing
to shout those things to the hilltops but are strangely
silent about their own.
I
read once that it takes seven additional lies to cover
up for the first one. A moment of choosing not to tell
the truth then can take on a life of its own, with more
and more untruths necessary in order to keep the first
lie from being found it. Think of the amount of energy
that goes into such actions! We have to remember who we
told what to and who we didn't tell and constantly be
on our guard in case we are found out. What a waste of
energy!
I
think it would be interesting to make 2008 the year of
truth-telling. This becomes the year when we seek to live
in such a way that we can quit lying and hiding and covering
up. Instead of expending all that energy in keeping a
lie afloat, that energy can be used for much more productive
things. We could develop a new hobby, relax more fully,
have much more fun, discover that we are people worth
liking, get a whole new understanding of how much God
really does love us, and wake up in the morning with a
light heart and a hopeful attitude. Doesn't that sound
nice?
The
key to this truth-telling is that we must tell our own
truth—not what we think someone else's truth is.
It sounds like a fine point, but everything hinges on
this. Real truth telling calls for a deeply integrated
life. It's a life that carefully examines how we ourselves
really do want to be treated and then deliberately and
intentionally sets out to treat others that way.
For
example, if you really think that your ideas and thoughts
should be heard with respect and interest by others, then
truth telling consists of working very hard to hear and
be interested in the ideas and thoughts of others. That's
real truth—not jumping down someone else's throat
when they didn't do it the way you wanted them to. If
you want your time or space or special interest to be
honored, then telling the truth about it makes sure that
time and space and hobbies for others are honored. If
your truth says that you really do want to the world to
dance only to your tune, then practice dancing only to
someone else's tune. You might discover that your truth
needs some fine-tuning.
What
do you say? Shall we give this a try? Sure beats being
found out the hard way about the lies we've been telling.
