..today’s secret…Beliefs and lies.

People living in society’s shadows lie and hide to gain benefits or cover a pained past.

It’s not necessarily their fault.

Mankind has always lied. Some believe it’s a built-in generic flaw. Others believe it’s a highly evolved protective mechanism.

Mark Twain once wrote that a truth is not hard to kill, and that a lie told well is immortal.

Man has lied to justify wars, acquire weapons, slaves, gold, land, industrial secrets, etc. Lies have allowed some to ascend to the peak of power while destroying others.

Take those first and sixth holy crusades, or Galileo and those Jesuits. Real whoppers they were.

Here’s something you should know that people you are helping generally don’t know.

Our daily actions (eating, buying, loving, hating, grooming, working, all of it) are all based on our beliefs.

We rely on what we believe to be our truths. Not facts. Beliefs.

We have beliefs why Walmart’s prices are lower, how hospitals make their money, where geese fly to in the winter, and why Aunt Sarah never married.

There is a tendency to bowl over others with facts, data, and science. “Here is the real scoop dude.”

Yawn.

The reality is it doesn’t matter if the people you are helping say something you believe is false.

Their beliefs form their unshakeable foundations that controls their behaviors, thoughts, and decisions.

Don’t be a rookie helper. Never forget that their beliefs are your reality. Remember that people are pretty good at lying and latching on to those things that makes sense to them.

Your job is to wedge your foot into their door, find some common ground to start a deeper conversation, and get to that first “Yeah.”

The world has not been, nor is, an easy place to wander about.

Hang in there.