George Washington aside, everyone lies and no matter how big or small, those lies can come back to haunt us. For author Sarah Jio, a fib burdened her for 13 years before she was able to let go. She shared her story on HuffPost Live.
Jio was at a winery with friends when one spotted a few hot air balloons. "My friend turned to me and she said 'have you ever been up in a hot air balloon?' And I generally am a very honest person, but I looked at her and I said 'yes!'"
"It was one of those silly little stupid things you say when you're with friends," she explained to host Nancy Redd. "It just slipped out of my mouth and I thought, 'why did I say that?' And I couldn't retract it--I was too embarrassed to retract it--and it haunted me ever since."
Dogged by the lie, Jio decided to explore more about lying in general in an article on Huffington Post. "I wanted to know if I was alone, if other people have told kind of these out-of-character lies that they regret. And as soon as I began talking to friends and experts, I found out that yes, I'm not alone -- a lot of us do harbor these silly little deceptions that we've told at one point or another."
Ultimately, Jio was able to move past her lie by finally taking a hot air balloon ride.
"I'm scared of heights and it was hard -- [I] white-knuckled it. But when I stepped out on the ground--I told my husband--I just felt so much lighter, like a burden had been lifted, and I knew when I told them that story, I could tell it with authenticity again. So it was a great full circle experience for me."