The Truth About the Truth

     I had a great conversation with someone recently about (take one guess) honesty.  You see dishonesty makes him upset which of course is truly understandable, but I had to point out that there are situations where honesty is NOT the best policy.
     An example of this is the coworker who coos and proudly shows off pictures of their baby sighing, "Isn't she/he so beautiful?", now you know full and gosh darn well that baby looks more like E.T. than a human child!  But, you also know that you would be deemed both evil and cruel if you ever uttered this truth, so you don't!  Instead you smile and comment on the outfit, setting or lighting and keep it moving.  This is an example of what I call a "Smile and Wave" (courtesy of the penguins of Madagascar) moment.  Other qualifying moments/scenarios are tacky weddings, bad paint jobs and super jacked gym rats yes these are a few moments where telling the truth will do more harm than good.
    These are also a few moments that challenge us to consider just how much gray exists in our world of black and white.  I think anyone who believes that there are no gray areas, especially when it comes to honesty, is either naive, in denial(or a medical professional).  Seriously, the world has too many variables to be just black and white when it comes to many things.  There are (50(or more)) shades of gray when it comes to love, sex, and life in general.  If there weren't it would all be simple.  Every answer would be either 'yes' or 'no', there wouldn't be a need for 'maybe' or 'I don't know'.  Two choices, black or white; yes or no; (absolute) right or wrong that's all you would need if there were no shades of gray.  I know this is a bit unusual but, think about your own life and how many times you have added a 'but' into your answer?  Is that not proof of you have taken a little dip in a nice crisp puddle of gray? 
     Whether we wish to acknowledge it or not gray is important in our lives and it does exist.  Don't get me wrong there are moments when gray isn't as important or relevant as the black and white, but it has its place in the world.  Maybe we all have a little fifty shades of gray inside of us (in different variations of course) after all...Consider this just a little food for thought.  I wish you all love and happiness of the truest kind!
~Marissa<3