There are times in our life when we really wish that whole ‘being honest’ thing wasn’t so prevalent. Well, on Tell a Lie Day, you get a free pass! Dishonesty is an art form that is prevalent in every day of our lives, from the media selling us their version of events to your kids telling you the dog broke the lamp. This is a day to let all of that have a pass.
Celebrating Tell a Lie Day doesn’t have to be about breaking societal taboos, instead, you can have a lot of fun with it. You can spend the day asking your friends and family questions, and seeing who can come up with the most believable or outrageous lie. There is innate creativity required to tell a truly believable and fantastic lie.
It is inherent in the creation of stories that we lie, and this is a day to tell as many whoppers as you can get out. Tell stories about the days of your youth, where you accomplished fantastic deeds with amazing grace, and got away with all the things you really got caught at.
This entire day will remind us that there is a danger to lying constantly, this is the day where you will not be able to trust anything anyone else can say, and that is the danger of a lifetime of duplicity.
While we tend to believe that most people are honest more often than not, there have been extensive studies telling us that the average person tells several lies a day.
This is the day to reflect on that and ask yourself some important questions. What’s the worst lie you ever told, have you falsified your resume to increase your chances to get a job? These are all moments where we tell small lies to big ones to get through the day.
Another thing you can watch out for and learn is the signals that the people in your lives throw off when they’re telling a lie. This can be useful for the rest of the year when they’re trying to hide things from you. Everyone has them, and they are in fact fundamental in such games like poker, where hiding the tells that reveal what’s actually in your hand are important.
When it comes to telling lies, there are two types of psychological conditions that can lead to lying to those around you. These two types are the sociopath and the compulsive liar, and the differences are pretty profound.
A sociopath is someone who has a target in mind, and their lies are always focused on getting their way, no matter the cost to others. They are notoriously charismatic and self-centered, but it’s difficult to tell their negative sides, they’re just that good.
Compulsive liars are another breed entirely, having developed a habit of lying as surely addictive as cigarette smoking. At first, it may be done just to protect themselves from things they’ve done, but as time goes by they start building a habit out of this.
Eventually, it becomes impossible for them to stop, the truth actually becomes incredibly difficult for them to tell, and even when it’s something they have no need to lie about. Unlike their sociopath counterparts, they are neither charismatic nor cunning, they merely are incapable of telling the truth.
So on this day, take the opportunity to tell a little falsehood, and spread a little creativity around. Tell a Lie Day comes but once a year, but don’t worry, Honesty Day comes a little later in the month. That’s the one to be afraid of.
