The Grasshopper had a reflective musing this morning: “Where there is smoke, there are mirrors.”

It got me to wondering about the smokescreens we create during our lives. What is it that we’re attempting to cover up?

More to the point, what do we lie about? Quoting my favorite doctor, Dr. Gregory House, “Everybody lies.”

Some are white lies and others are black marks on our soul. It’s the charred ones that rob us of our life as they continue to produce a heavy smoke.

“Stop lying” seems to be the answer but that’s too big a chunk to go to work on. Doing it all at once has us fear that we’ll choke on our own smoke.

There is an easier way to breathe more fresh air, more often – Retire a lie.

What barn burner have you been telling that you’re willing to soak with a fire hose?

Here’s the fun part: No one has to know that you’ve retired the lie, just you. Just the act of letting it go up in smoke will lighten your load by having you keep track of one less lie.

Then continue the process by retiring another. Before too long, you’ll be having a fire sale where “Everything must go!”

In the spirit of full disclosure, this is a work in progress for me, but I can issue this progress report: It feels better when I look in the mirror.

All the best,

John