At some points, everyone tells a lie. What differentiates the lies is their magnitude and the premise on which they were told. I try to be as truthful as I can, but some situations may just warrant intended or unintended lies.
When it involves telling a lie for the greater good, I don't hesitate to do it. Some people may be wondering if there is anything good with not being truthful about some issues, but like I mentioned earlier, the premise and intent are very important.
Let me give an example from my experience. I am the kind of person who guards the emotions of my loved ones. Whatever information would unsettle them is kept away from them if doing so is in no way injurious.
Many years ago, while I was at the university as an undergraduate, I fell seriously ill. It was in 2015. That is the last time I can remember that I ever fell sick of that magnitude.
I was admitted to the university clinic, and in the first few days of treatment, there was no sign of improvement. I told my mom about my sickness the day I was admitted to the hospital. She started calling me every now and then to find out if my health was improving. All the woman wanted to hear was a positive response; otherwise, she wanted to come and meet me so that she could take care of me. I told her the truth about my health not improving in the first few days.
The truth about the state of my health started to weigh her down emotionally. She was crying, begging God for nothing to happen to her son, just two years after we lost my father. I decided to start telling her that my health was improving, despite the reality being the opposite. Whenever she called, I would compose my voice to deliberately convince her that I was fine.
After a short while, my health started improving. I thank God that I became strong and healthy. The next break that I had from school, I traveled home to meet my mom. She celebrated me greatly and thanked God for the restoration of good health.
When it comes to whatever can trouble the minds of my loved ones about me, I try to handle it in such a way that I give them no reason to continue in panic mode.
Just two days ago, I went to the motor park in Kaduna to travel to Jos. I arrived at the park at about 3 p.m. I boarded a vehicle that was in the process of loading passengers. I was the first passenger. It took the vehicle three hours to get the required number of passengers.
Before taking off at about 6 PM, I was contemplating postponing the journey till the next day because the insecurity challenge along the route that I was following and plying it at night increased the security threat. After the whole contemplation, I decided to continue with the journey, which would last for four to five hours.
About two hours into the journey, my brother called me on the phone, and in the course of our conversation, he suspected that I was inside a vehicle traveling. When he asked to know, I told him that I was traveling to Jos from Kaduna. He shouted and flared up at me. He was angry that I decided to risk embarking on a night journey despite the many reported cases of insecurity on the axis. In order to calm him down, I told him that I would arrive in 30 minutes. He told me to call him when I arrived.
Thirty minutes later, he called again to find out if I had reached. I decided to tell him that I had arrived, Jos. I don't want him to be too worried about me. I had to lie so that his mind could be at peace. I later arrived at Jos safely, and I spoke to him the following morning. I promised him never to embark on such a journey at that time, and this is a promise that I am willing to keep. It's for my own good.
If I am faced with similar situations in the future, I will still try to keep the minds of my loved ones at rest. I need to assure them that the situation is under control, especially if they can't play an immediate role if I tell them the truth.