The whole truth and nothing but the truth

My playing partner and I are purists when it comes to the rules of golf. Although we're not very good, we always play by the rules. It makes golf much more enjoyable. Instead of having to watch the other guy like a hawk to make sure he isn't cheating, we can attend to our own game and get the most out of it we can. Some say rules were made to be broken; I think they were made to be abided by.

Cheating and lying are essentially the same thing. If you shoot a six on a hole and claim a four, you're cheating AND lying and lying has become epidemic among people today. They say they're taking the easy way out but it never is because you have to tell another lie to cover up the first one. That doesn't seem to deter many people though. My golf partner says we live in a world of liars today and my experiences are similar.

I went with a woman for three and a half years after my divorce. Among the many things she told me that weren't true were that she couldn't imagine her life without me in it and that she would go to her grave loving me. I haven't heard from her in nine years now.

A good friend agreed to play in a golf scramble with me and then called the night before and cancelled. Not because of an emergency or a conflict in plans but just because he didn't want to play. I understand not wanting to play in a golf scramble with me and my partner that costs a lot of money with not much chance of us winning any of it back but he should have told me that up front when he was asked to play with us, not the night before the tournament.

Another friend agreed to go on the trip of a lifetime with me to Vegas and take in some great concerts while we were there. He agreed one afternoon and after I got home and developed an itinerary for our trip, I called him back and he said that sounded like a lot of fun and to book the trip. I told him I would put everything on my card and then we would just split the total down the middle. He agreed to that and then the next afternoon he texts me to tell me he's not going to go because he's never liked Vegas that much.

The President of the United States runs for office and one of his major campaign promises is to close down Gitmo. But after he's elected, he doesn't. I've always thought that breaking a campaign pledge should be against the law but it's not ever going to be because they all do it. Whether Democrat or Republican, a politician will always say whatever they need to say to get elected and then they'll do what they want to do instead of what they promised to do.

Teachers and professors have heard every lie in the book from students who missed an exam and want to make it up. Some of them are pretty creative and even humorous from time to time but they're still lies.

Facts are twisted, bent and broken by companies and corporations wanting to sell us something and if you read the fine print to the offer, which hardly anyone does, you would know that.

It's a concept I don't understand. I suppose we've all lied from time to time, trying to ease ourselves out of a difficult situation that we created, but it's never right. The last time I lied to anyone's face was 10 years ago and trying to defend that lie was so difficult and made me feel so guilty that I promised myself I would never do it again.

We lie because we think it's easier that telling the truth in a situation where we know we're going to take some heat or, at the very least, have to explain our behavior. But the truth is always superior to the lie and is much easier to defend. If you've done something you shouldn't have done or get invited to do something you don't want to do, admit it and get it out in the open where it can be dealt with openly and honestly. Then if the other person still gets angry or upset at you, at least it's because you told the truth instead of being caught in a lie.

Telling the truth is a display of character while lying is just the opposite. And character is the most important thing we have.