“Truth is beautiful, without doubt; but so are lies”. Ralph Waldo Emerson.
We see what we want to see. We tell ourselves what we want to hear.
I figure that it’s impossible to become what you want to become if you can’t face who you are.
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I’m certainly guilt of bullshitting myself. I tell myself what I want to hear. My wife says that I “frame” everything so that no matter what I’ve done–no matter how stupid, how hurtful, how embarrassing–I frame it so that I feel better, or feel less culpable.
So after the hundredth time she told me “to face facts”, I decided to face facts.
I decided to write down things about myself that were true. Factual. Honest.
I had to dig a bit. It took me a while, and though I was alone, with pen and paper to keep me company, I still wriggled and squirmed and felt guilty and ashamed.
I will share one true thing about myself. Drum roll…I do frame things. I put facts into a perspective of my own making. Meaning: I lie to myself. And do you know what’s the number one lie I tell myself? I tell myself that I am happy.
I frame things to cover that up.
I put down a bunch of other things. 12 things in fact. Things that are stone cold true about myself. Why? I figure that it’s impossible to become what you want to become if you can’t face who you are.
TASK
Part One: List ten truths about yourself. Don’t spare yourself.
Part Two: Read them to your best friend. (Note: this is optional)
Photo by A L L E F . V I N I C I U S Δ on Unsplash