Lying to Yourself

Are you lying to yourself? Are you so embedded in your lies that you are unaware of them? When was the last time you tracked your daily activities to see what you really do? What if you tell yourself that you are healthy? Have you tracked your caloric intake? Examined the nutrition content. Monitored your physical activity. When did you truly sit down and review your progress?

What if you tell yourself you are a good person who helps others? When was the last time you sat down in a quiet room by yourself and took pen to paper to write all the good you’ve brought into the world to help others. What groups did you support. How did you support them? Who did you help today? Where did you fall short? What could you have done better?

What if you tell yourself your alcohol consumption is in control. When did you track all the drinks you had for a certain timeframe? When have you asked yourself about the productivity you missed because of alcohol? What about the time spent drinking? The time spent hung over. When did you honestly do this?

This is an examination of conscience. It is sitting down and actually examining the activity you did or didn’t do about a particular area of your life

No one continually lies to oneself on purpose. Most lie to themselves because they don’t realize it. Most embrace an idea they once embodied as how they think today. For example, when was the last time you told yourself you love a certain thing? Ok, maybe that thing is playing basketball. When did you actually go play basketball last? Was it in high school? College? A year ago on an intramural work team? How much basketball have you played in the past few months? Do you really like it or are you lying to yourself about a time you used to like basketball but you do not even know if you actually do today.

Here’s another example. A lot of us say we love our jobs. When did you last look at your job. Sit down. Write about the job. Write about your struggles and successes. Are you happy with where you stand?

How do you know if you are lying to yourself? You have to write about it. You have to physically put pen to paper. Examine your thoughts. Read what you write. Do you believe it? Track your activity. Do you really do what you say you do, and can you prove it?

This isn’t scary or something to resist. It is enlightening to open of your eyes to who you really are today and not who you thought you were. Give it a try. Find out who you are today and then ask who you want to become tomorrow.