"Truth"

truth - a: a statement proven to be or accepted as true. b: conformity to fact or actuality. c: sincerity; integrity.

One of the most important things to me is honesty. I believe that being truthful is very important. Sure the truth may hurt sometimes, but it's important to be trusting. There will be many times in your life when people will be untruthful to you. They will tell you things that they think you want to hear. Like "I'm willing to try" or "I will make an effort" and then not follow through. But anyway, I digress......

So yesterday, I was talking with my co-worker "B" about this new game show, The Moment of Truth on FOX. Contestants win money by answering increasingly personal questions while being hooked up to a polygraph machine. The first six questions net you a prize of $10,000. Five more questions earn you $25,000. This continues to a top prize of $500,000. Players are asked up to 75 questions prior to the taping of the show. 21 of those questions are asked during the show. As they continue answering questions truthfully they earn money. Contestants can quit and walk away with the money they have earned at any time. But if they choose to hear a question, they must answer it. If the polygraph registers an answer as "false", the contestant is finished and walks away with nothing. Sounds simple enough. right?

This show is very interesting to watch as contestants continue to push themselves to win larger amounts of money, all the while answering very personal questions about themselves that are obviously emabarrassing or uncomfortable. Adding to the discomfort is the presence of family members, spouses, employers, and close friends.

"B" was telling me that she thought it would be easy to earn a lot of money doing this show. But I warned her that they are going to ask you some of the toughest questions about yourself that you can think of. I'm sure we all have things in our past that we wouldn't want to admit to. And you know that the show's producers have done a thorough check on your background, talking with friends and co-workers to try and find that deep dark secret. And you can bet that if they find any dark or controversial secrets, they are going to ask about them. For example, one guy was asked (while his boss was sitting there), "have you ever gone through your co-workers personal belongings at work?" And his answer was ........ yes! Another guy was asked, "have you delayed having children because you are not sure if your wife is your lifelong partner?" And his answer was ........ yes!

Though it may be easy to tell the truth, you have to ask yourself - "at what cost?" Is it worth $25,000 to lose your best friend, or $100,000 to lose your job, or how about $500,000 to lose your marriage?

It is a very fascinating show to watch, but I don't think you'll catch me in the hot seat any time soon. I'll stick to Deal or No Deal and The Price is Right!

Keep on, keepin' on
-J