To your own self be true

Of all the lies that could be told, the worst are the ones that are not spoken. They occur when we are dishonest with ourselves.

It bothers me sometimes when I see someone who is a completely different person depending on who they are around. Or someone who’s loyalties are always placed with the people present, but never with the friends distant. Sometimes we call these people two-faced–those who speak out of both sides of their mouths, or those who flip-flop allegiances.

You might think that these people lie to others. In cases of deliberate deception, this may be true. However, I think the case is more often that they are simply not honest with themselves.

To be honest with yourself, you have to know who you are, what your fundamentals are, and what you believe to be true. Conviction is a sure quality of those who are honest with themselves. Honest men and women confront their problems and sticky situations straight on, because they know that they will be true to self whatever the result is. Those who hide from their problems, only do so because they betray their own courage and natural ability to confront their fears.

Too many times we hide behind the excuse of self-discover. I do not claim that any man can know himself completely, because we constant evolve and grow such that our knowledge of our full selves can never be fully acquired. Rather, I think we can all obtain a satisfactory idea about who we are now, and what we believe now, without having to color in the whole picture of our future. Those who cannot invent even the simplest self-mission statement will always be bound by laziness to be someone they aren’t.