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People lie because they don't believe they are good enough. It's an insecurity that dogs many peoples' lives, and it starts in childhood. When a child is looking for attention from his parent, and doesn't receive it, he then resorts to trying to impress. He feels that by exaggerating his story he will be more acceptable, more lovable, if his story is bigger and better than it really is.

Grown-ups lie - they lie to different degrees - but they all lie for the same reason. To impress! How sad that we have to resort to lying to impress the people that are most important to us. I've watched this with various members of my own family and it saddens me greatly. These are all wonderful people in their own right but they still feel the necessity to exaggerate (or lie) to make their story even greater, to make themselves even more important or impressive.

Childhood is such an impressive time for little ones. They soon realize if they are being ignored in favor of another sibling, or even another adult, and they quickly adopt measures to bring the attention to themselves. Unfortunately lying is often not addressed in childhood and so the small tales told by children soon become fully fledged lies by teenagers and adults.

Unfortunately lying can easily become a habit, and a habit hard to break. Some people lie for simply no reason at all, other than it's become a habit. It may have started serving some purpose in a persons' life, say in childhood, but it then goes on to serve no purpose at all.

In an adult relationship, lying is the deal-breaker. It cannot be dealt with because it can't be defined. Who knows where truth starts and lying takes over when one is dealing with a dishonest person.

As a parent, it is vitally important that children know that you are listening to and believing in them. My children were taught at a very young age that, although I may be angry with them (and may even yell a little) I will always support and help them if they tell the truth. It was perfectly clear that lying would not be tolerated in our family, that truth is paramount, that I would always support and help them if they were honest and upfront about their mistakes.

Lying starts in childhood and it's up to parents/guardians to tackle this problem when it raises it's ugly head. It's up to adults to set good examples, spend quality time with their children and acknowledge that everything a child tells you is important to them. They need to be noticed, to feel special and above all to know that you are always there for them. The importance of living an honest, authentic life should constantly be explained very carefully to them, no matter what their age.

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