Big Lies

I once saw a man on Oprah who weighed so much, his leg bones literally bent in toward each other. The saddest part of the story, though, was when he finally lost all of the debilitating weight, he died soon after. All of that fat had taken its toll on his health and he couldn't escape the consequences.

That got me thinking about the lies we tell ourselves to make everything OK. Big and small. Here are some examples:

• Native Americans are a hostile force that must be eliminated*
• I don't have time
• Slavery is necessary to maintain an agrarian economy
• I don't watch television*
• Lighting up a stick of tobacco and repeatedly inhaling smoke is safe
• Petroleum products and combustible engines don't hurt the environment
• Everybody loves Raymond
• It doesn't matter
• She doesn't have anything to do with my feelings for you
• Democracy is the same as capitalism*
• The Red Sox deserve to win*
• You can force a country to adopt Democracy
• I don't eat a lot of sweets
• Activist judges
• Jesus was white*
• Katie and Matt's banter is spontaneous
• Saddam Hussein is responsible for 9/11
• George Bush runs the country*
• Madonna just needs the right script
• My vote doesn't count
• No one will notice
• Fair and balanced*
• I don't deserve it

*via Superfrankenstein

Since I started this entry with Oprah, I'm going to end it with her as well:

"You don't become what you THINK, you become what you BELIEVE."