DS Coremans

Writing Prompt: Write 4 things about yourself that are true and one that’s a lie.

I believe in an afterlife.

I am capable of being happy.

I am a good person.

I want to live a long and happy life.

I stopped trying.

Truths and a lie. Usually, this is a game. An icebreaker. The aim: a person shares some truths and a lie about themselves, others must then try to correctly identify the lie.

The truths I’ve picked are all things that though I believe them now are not things I have always believed of myself. Throughout my life, I have believed ‘truths’ about myself that were unfounded. Things which with the benefit of hindsight and clarity of experience have revealed themselves to be falsehoods.

The Lie. The lie is something I have told myself over and over again until I almost believed it. Then recently during the most difficult experience of my life so far, I realised that not only did I know this statement to be false, but all at once saw the power the words had had over me. I learned recently that our beliefs change as our understandings evolve and develop, all we have to do is keep learning, growing and above all else living.

It took me a long time to recognise these statements as truths or lies, and it will likely take me a lifetime to master the power which these statements have over my life. I know now which of these statements are true, and rather than ask you to find my lie, I ask instead that you look for your own. 

If you find something you tell yourself often that you no longer agree with, then put this lie to the side and find your own truths. You’ll be surprised what you actually believe about yourself.