Good morning (or afternoon or night, wherever you may live) :)

Many people come on here to discuss their issue with lying, exaggerating, telling the whole truth, etc. I am so grateful to have found that I am not the only one with these underlying issues. I hope that everyone on here has joined this group for support and to really talk and discuss about why they lie. I hope that everyone on here has someone they can trust and feel comfortable with.

I have a wonderful Mother who is supporting me 100% with my lying and I tell her all the lies I have told (serious lies vs small stupid lies). I feel that confessing to everyone close to you (significant others, parents, siblings, etc.) holds you accountable to want to tell the truth because they will always be wondering if you are being honest or not. So having those important people in your life know is scary, but it allows you to find the sincere people who care about you. Whether if it is 2 people or 20 people.

I am trying to relish the fact that I lie about such stupid small things. I lied to my boyfriend one night over the fact I shuffled a deck of cards, which I hadn't. It scared me that I lied about something so mundane. I really thought about why I lied...it was because he went to let the dogs out, use the restroom, and get himself a drink, while I just sat there doing nothing, while I could have been shuffling the deck of cards. I lied because I thought he would give me crap for just sitting there doing nothing. Such a small shameful thing to lie over. But I know Im not the only one who conjures up these small lies. I told my mom about the whole situation. It hurts her to know she has a liar for a child but it really helps me knowing I have someone to speak to.

I am starting therapy today to hopefully really crack down on why I lie and better strategies to stop lying. I think we need to start a positive discussion board on the POSITIVE things we DO to help recover from the bad habit. I just hate reading everyone's hardships. It is so saddening to me. Breaking this addiction is going to beautiful for each and everyone of us as long as we continue to DO instead of TRY.

Here are some things I DO to help cope:

1. Write daily in a journal to get all my thoughts out
2. Keep a calendar and mark days I lie in red, days I don't lie in blue to see progress.
3. Tell those who know I have a lying problem to give me a few minutes to respond (so I can think about my answer instead of feeling the urgency to blurt something out and have it be a lie)
4. Avoiding to purposefully lie (Calling in sick to work when you're not or giving an excuse why you're late) ...I find that breaking all forms of lying are helpful and will only make you more comfortable with telling the truth
5. Ask someone you trust to interview you and practice telling the truth no matter how hard (the more comfortable you get with that scary feeling of possible rejection, the easier it will become to tell the truth and to override that feeling of anxiety and fear)

***Please share anything you might DO to cope with not lying.

If I think of more, I will add them. Also, I think we should also share times when we told the truth in a tough situation and it worked out just fine. I think since many of us are caught up in the fear of rejection or letting others down, we need to remember the times when we told the truth and it benefited us! I would love to hear stories from you all. We need to spread positive vibes to help us all make it through. The more we reflect on the positive things, the better off we will all be. This is something I hope everyone is doing for themselves and not someone else. If you aren't doing it truly and honestly for yourself, you are only lying to yourself and putting yourself one-step back. I wish and pray for you all. If anyone needs any enlightenment I am here. I am really confident that we can all break through. Please reach out to me with any questions, comments, concerns, or happiness.

Prayers and Support xo