I was thinking this morning about first dates, and how most of us overthink what we’re going to wear, where we’re going to take them, getting the car washed, cleaning the house and putting fresh sheets on the bed in case we bring them home. Have you ever wondered why we tend to go to such extremes to impress others?
If we aren’t careful in these early stages, we can set the stage for disaster. Sure, dressing nice, grooming, and presenting our best is good for first impressions, but if we step beyond the superficial, the way we present ourselves to others – especially early on – truly needs to be authentic. Every overstatement, every lie we tell is placing a relationship on an unstable, untenable foundation. If you feel the need to lie to impress someone, the harsh reality is that you don’t want them to know you, you want them to know who you wish you were. What if, instead of doing that, you devoted time and effort toward becoming the person you want to be?
It’s so much easier to be authentic. Anything else is a lie, and my memory is too bad to be a liar.