I hate to break it to you, but you’ve been lied to. By people you love and by people who love you. By society. In ways you’d never expect.

Now I could go all deep and meaningful on you here, which maybe what you’re expecting because I usually do, but today, just for now, let’s keep it light, shall we?

My case in point about being lied to: Cats in trees.

Pretty much my whole life, I’ve heard that cats get stuck in trees. As far as I can tell, it’s common knowledge. As a child, I actually believed that part of a fireman’s job was to rescue pet cats who accidentally wandered high up into maple trees.

But recently, I’ve realized that’s just not true. Not only do firemen have much more pressing crises to take care of, cats actually like to climb trees.

I’m not sure what took me so long to get to this realization. I mean, the clues are all around. People buy cat trees for their houses, for goodness’ sake. That in and of itself shows that cats like to climb.

Lately I’ve been observing the colony of feral cats that live in the hills behind my condo. One of their favorite things to do is climb trees. They don’t just climb them and then freak out with loud meowing, desperate for rescue. Nope. They hang out there. Literally.

Usually, up on the hill there are several cats in trees, their bodies draped over limbs, their paws and tails hanging limply. They aren’t in distress. They’re relaxed. They’re content. They want to be there.

And you know what? Never have I noticed a cat up a tree, and seen it there days later. This shows me that they can, in fact, get down all on their own. What I think is more likely then them getting stuck is that they just don’t want to come down. I mean, have you ever met a cat? They’re not pushovers. They do their own thing, and no matter how hard you try, you’re not likely gonna get a cat to do anything they don’t want to do.

So there you have it. My very scientific research proves you’ve been lied to.

In all seriousness, though, as I’ve thought about those cats, and my accepted beliefs about them, it’s made me wonder: how many other things have I just accepted? I’m trusting enough to hope that there’s not too many things I’ve wrongly believed, but I’m realistic enough to know that no one is always right.

It’s got me thinking. Are we afraid to ask questions and seek the truth? Are we afraid to push back a little bit to see what’s behind the curtain? Why? What would happen if we did?