Truth Be Told

I may have touched on this topic before, but I have been thinking about it for the past couple of days.

How true to life are the stories we tell about ourselves? Do we add minor details in order to "punch them up" and make these stories more interesting? Do we embellish them, honing the vocabulary each time we tell them, working on them to turn them into a polished routine? If we were to return to the original events, would they pale by comparison?
Or do we go in the opposite direction, playing things down, reducing and simplifying to the point of dismissal? Seems to be a fine line somewhere as to how much or how little we should tell.
Our story is our story, and, truth be told, it can have an impact on others. Like so many tales, the effect is in the content, surely, but what really "sells" it is the delivery. Tell your tale, and be true to yourself. Sincerity of heart trumps acting any day of the week.