Can you keep a secret?  Keeping a secret can be extremely difficult, as most people know especially if it is juicy enough. You go to the office after hours and find your boss dressed in a bra and panties dancing with a gorilla. You probably won’t be able to keep that. The will power to not tell someone what you saw or heard can be overwhelming to the most disciplined person. To be truthful the only way two people can truly keep a secret is if one of them is dead! So keep your mouth shut! Loose lips sink ships! 

I remember my days as an appellate attorney in the Alabama Attorney General’s office sitting in the library reviewing trial transcripts thinking the only reason this guy is in prison is because he told someone. If he had kept his mouth shut he would have never got caught. Fortunately for those of us on the right side of the law, criminals can’t keep their mouths shut and informants help us to solve crimes. 

As an Attorney I am trained to keep secrets and professionally required to do so. My motivation for keeping secrets is keeping my license to practice law; however most people do not have the motivation to keep secrets. Once they get the secret they are about to bust wide open to tell someone. I remember I shared a juicy secret someone told me with a friend and he immediately told someone. When I confronted him about his disloyal act he quickly pointed out to me that it was unreasonable for me to expect him to keep the juicy secret when I couldn’t keep it. He was absolutely correct and I decided then that the best way to keep a secret is to not tell anyone. People can’t betray a secret that you haven’t told them. 

There are some secrets that are easier to keep because to reveal them would be detrimental to you. If you walk in your backyard to feed your dog and your dog say, “Good morning, how are you today?” You will be better off keeping that between you and your dog. You find out that the First Lady of the United States is having an affair with your husband. I think you had better keep that to yourself as well. 

Secrets, secrets, and secrets we all have them. Some we are obligated to tell. If the secret will harm yourself or an innocent person you should tell it. This requires you to use your judgment.

 In the words of my dad, “You must honor the chair whether it is sitting, walking or lying down.”