The Truth. It is a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with caution

There is this feeling I can’t explain.

It is not there all the time.

It rarely appears.

But when it does come, it liberates me every time.

One of the most irritating thing about a Bibliophile is they want to read every book in the world that has ever been written. It is irritating because no sooner I reach the end of a book, I end up imagining the next one that I am going to pick up. I weigh the potential risks of starting a really thick book or a classic or a mystery. What if I can’t stop reading? What if I forget all my other chores while I get engrossed in a book? Or what if I can’t finish it in a given timeline? (Yes, I have a timeline. Big Surprise!)

However, with all those anxious thoughts in my mind, I love how it feels when a book is about to end with the final conclusion, mysteries solved and a happy ending – or rather – a satisfactory ending. Especially when the author throws in a remarkable sentence that you could just read to no end. This happened when I had challenged myself that I could finish a 200 page book in less than 24 hours. I did win the challenge, but not before I came across this amazing phrase:

The Truth. It is a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with caution.

It is hard not to agree. Truth is a beautiful thing because Truth has power. At the same time, Truth is a terrible thing because there is no power more formidable than the Truth. The debate about what Truth is or isn’t can be never ending as it is the one thing that everyone wants to have their own version of. But this is not about that, this is about when we conjure up all our courage to tell to a truth – how it makes us feel.

Saying the truth can be more terrifying than the Loch Ness Monster and yet the feeling that comes after is as pleasant as a summer breeze. But given a choice, I would happily ride the back of Loch Ness Monster than to go through the whole ride of being caught in a lie. For those who don’t understand, let me put it this way, being caught in a lie or trying to cover up that lie, feels worse than a panic attack. When confronted, our mind works in all wrong directions and yet it doesn’t work at all. We feel a strange tightness in our chest until we realize that it is because we haven’t been breathing. Obviously, since every cell in our body is focused in getting us out of the situation, so much so that we start planning our ‘escape route’ as well.

Half the things that goes wrong in anyone’s life is because they hide the truth. When I say this, I don’t mean that everybody is an outright liar. But..I don’t want to hurt so-and-so’s feelings; But…little lies aren’t a big deal – these also make us Pinocchios of our lives. Sure, our noses don’t grow longer but the pile of lies does and with it our comfort to lie. Hence, the people who don’t feel even remotely similar to what is described as the aftermath of lying is because they have reached a stage where it comes naturally to them.

Truth, on the other hand, always starts as a terrible thing. The way we feel when we are about to get caught in a lie is the same when we are about to tell a truth, in some cases it is much worse. We play out all the different scenarios in our mind, writing out our dialogues and timing it correctly to create an impact and of course, deciding about our ‘escape route’ if nothing goes according to any of the 115 scenarios we have thought of. Trust me, we all go through it sometime or the other. Whether it is to tell our parents about your boyfriend/girlfriend, or to tell them that we failed an exam, or to tell a friend that we like them.

Nonetheless, once we do go out of our way and accept the truth, we automatically weigh lighter for the big burden on our chest is lifted like when a curse is broken. And even though we might not have any closure, we sometimes wonder whether we need one at all because now we no more fear the result. And that, is the beauty of telling the truth.

When I am asked to describe a person’s qualities and if I mention that I find them brave, it doesn’t mean that they must have killed a bear with bare hands. For me, bravery is about telling the truth always. Fighting in a war is definitely brave in an exceptional way but when we actually stand there, tell the truth, and then wait for the consequences while facing what goes on inside us along with the feeling of falling sick or faint all the while wishing that we would stop breathing – for me that is bravery. Saving someone’s life is brave but it comes from a point of humanity within us. But choosing to tell the truth, no matter however hurtful it is not for others but ourselves too – that is the true mark of a brave person.

What I am saying here is that we don’t need to walk to every stranger on our way and tell them what we think about them, or that we need to say everything that pops into our mind. Trust me, there is a huge difference between telling the truth and being a big mouth. Not everything that we think needs to be put out there in the world. Similarly, not everything that we think needs to be said at that very moment. Hence, truth should always be tread upon with caution. It is not the question of hurting anyone, it is about knowing how each domino would fall one after another.

Even though we might know all of these things already, but what’s interesting is that we can’t think of living a life without lying. Can you name even one person in your life whom you have never lied to? Probably not. Thus, we end up playing the same game to which rules don’t completely agree with anyway. In some way or the other, we all have mastered the art of deception.

Maybe now we are all so set in our ways and we can’t change, but we all should know this – The truth has the power to consume us. It has the power to scare us. It has the power to turn us. But most importantly, it has the power to liberate us.

Try it once, you might surprise yourself.

Food for Thought – Honesty is the best Policy, but I don’t think everyone follows this policy – or worse – they twist it according to their whims and fantasies. Isn’t that worse than just lying?

Until Next Timeth,
GeekChic