Truth or dare?

Sometimes you have to swallow your pride and make an ass out of yourself. Occasionally this means that something bad will happen; at other times good comes out of what you've done. I guess the most important thing is to tell the truth. At least then no-one can accuse you of having tricked them, or having tried to fool them into doing something without telling them all the facts.

How many of us used to play truth or dare? And out of those of us, who among us picked a truth when it got to our turn? Did you lie when faced with something that could have caused embarrassment or pain? It's a natural defence mechanism, and one to which we all turn at various times. But there comes a point where you can't be bothered to try and lie any more; it's more exhausting than just putting your hands up and admitting what you really knew all along. Either admitting it to yourself, or to others. Most of the time, this is a relief. Even though inside there is a small part of you that regrets it, and wishes that you had just carried on playing a part.

With truth, comes obligation and responsibility. Realising that by telling the truth you may inadvertently be causing pain to someone else, or may be making them unhappy. Sometimes you have to realise that your well-meaning actions can be less than helpful. You can have all the good intentions in the world, and you can truly believe that your actions and words will help another person; but they don't need it. The soul inside you yearns to hug them, to do everything you can to help them, to be there for them - but whilst to you, this seems like the best course of action, to them, it is cloying and suffocating. And so, you take up the role of non-interfering friend. Knowing that there is more you could do, and knowing that the role is not the one you'd originally auditioned for, but much preferring it to being the understudy in the wings, who is forever waiting for a part that may never be theirs to take.

But then, if you didn't audition in the first place, you'd never have a chance of getting the role.