Your Truest Self

I read somewhere tonight someone's definition of their truest self. I wondered what I would write about today and found my inspiration in those words.

Being honest to yourself is not always easy to do. Most times its easier to lie to ourselves so often we believe what we are saying. Many times the lies are small and meaningless to anyone but ourselves. As a coping mechanism it works and has few ill effects. But what happens when we attempt to deceive ourselves for protection? Protection from our feelings, our vulnerabilities.

We go through life on autopilot most days. We shift our thinking, our behavior and our feelings with each transition. For the most part we don't even realize that we are constantly adapting to our surroundings. Sometimes, however, our environment becomes too tricky for autopilot and suddenly you are faced with having to consciously choose your path. This is where self awareness and honesty is more important than ever.

Our instinct as people, is to take the path of least resistance. So when your surroundings become questionable, our flight response takes over. When running away is not an option, we are forced to find a way to handle the situation. For many people, honesty is always the way to go. There is little thought to the decision, they just choose what they know is the truth. However for a lot of us, choosing the rational option is met with natural resistance. It becomes the path less traveled.

When you know you have things to lose, tough emotions to feel or potentially devastating changes should you listen to rationale, it seems easier to lie to ourselves. Convince ourselves that we are OK with the path less traveled. That we embrace it. When in reality the journey may be scaring us to death.

I am not saying that you should always follow your emotions, because sometimes they are unjust, unfounded, hypersensitive and defy all logic. But we should be honest with ourselves. Allow ourselves to feel what we do, even if we don't share it, or ever act on it. Being honest to yourself and believing what you are saying is the only way you will ever be able to be honest to anyone else.