Mendacity, Apathy and Chicken Soup

I give you my word.'

I promise you.'

How many times have you heard those words, or even said them yourself? We come to expect that the person saying it will be true and not string us along. Sure, things will happen along the way at times and events will change a given outcome. That does not mean you are not holding true to your word/promise. But those other times.

It becomes frustrating and even heartbreaking when someone tells us they are going to do something, be somewhere or fulfill an obligation and then fails to do so. We come to expect it. After all, most of us have been taught that a person is only as good as the promises they keep. When time after time you are disappointed, you begin to lose faith and trust in others in general.

Mendacity is the definition of untruthfulness or the tendency to lie. If we experience enough mendacity then we begin to feel apathy. Once apathy takes hold, we give up believing in others and then eventually in ourselves. It is hard to care about how much effort we put into something when no one else does.

We work hard at our job, put effort into our relationships and our soul into our artistic creations, and for what? We plan things out, make sure we have all our bases covered, do what we think is right and still it falls apart. What does it really matter in the long run then? Why bother to make any kind of effort for ourselves or believe in others? It will only hurt us in the end. We may as well give up before we start.

Excuse me here a moment. *cough*. Whew, that was unexpected. As I was saying *sneeze* Wow that was rude of me! *cough* I seem to have something stuck in my throat. *cough* Let me try and get this out so we may continue

BULL****

Ah much better now. I apologize for that but I could not keep it in any longer. It was beginning to choke me. Now where were we? Oh yes, we may as well give up on people, life and ourselves because we are bound to be disappointed. If you want to do that, go sit in the corner by your dish and have fun. I on the other hand am going to continue to trust in others until they prove they should not be.

I will continue to work hard because I believe that doing your best at all times is expected, doing less is shameful. I will continue to plan, hope and dream. I realize that most of things that fall into this category will not come to pass. That is okay. They are not meant to. Life is about learning how to make chicken soup'.

First, find something to give the soup' a solid base. What is it that makes you proud of being you? Whether it be a talent, a personality trait or an ability, use that to start. Put it in your pot'. Add life's vegetables: a pound of memory, a cup of laughter, maybe even some finely diced lessons learned. Now sprinkle in a dash hope, a spoonful of faith and a drizzle of tears. Mix together with a gallon of love. Cook it all up and let it simmer away.

You know what they say about the powers of chicken soup'.

It is good for the body.

And possibly good for the soul.