Showing posts with label honesty. Show all posts
Showing posts with label honesty. Show all posts

10 Reasons Why Honesty Is Important to Be Successful

You want the people with whom you come into contact to accurately think of you as being an honest person. Anything less is unacceptable if you want to be successful in all aspects of your life.

If you are dishonest everyone with whom you come into contact (friends, relatives, employers and others) will ignore or dismiss everything you say and do as being false and unreliable. Who can build and achieve what they want with such a character flaw? The answer is obvious.

Following is a brief list of reasons why honesty, as a character trait, is so important:

1. You would be considered untrustworthy and your chances of getting the job you want is severely limited if you are dishonest. Employers can't afford to hire people who are less than honest. Employees who are found to be deceitful are destined to be fired.

2. Many times, untruthfulness or dishonesty is unlawful. Lying could land you in jail or facing fines. The same is true when applying for a loan, reporting sales tax or supplying information for a loan.

3. Being known as a person who misrepresents the truth is a perception that is hard to reverse. Trustworthy behavior on the part of an individual is highly valued by our society.

4. Your potential to achieve success in all aspects of your life is severely limited if dishonesty is part of your character. You would limit your opportunities. Others would maintain their distance from you.

5. Being less than honest can and will be hurtful to others and cause great pain to loved ones. Your personal relationships would be either harmed or destroyed.

6. Others are inclined to describe or recommend you as a dependable individual who can be trusted when you are consistently authentic. Your words carry greater weight, as you are known to be a person who tells the truth. Your chances of advancement and credibility are enhanced.

7. Being deceitful with others naturally lowers your self-esteem and requires energy for you to maintain the false appearance of authenticity. Some people suggest that promoting falsehoods could actually be harmful to your physical and emotional health.

8. You will suffer a lack of respect from a poor reputation. Others will avoid contact with you personally and professionally.

9. Your chances of being able to improve your life (financially and socially) will be severely limited. People who are known for misrepresenting facts and being disingenuous are avoided.

10. Your bearing false witness is harmful to society in general. A misleading behavior by an individual can actually have far reaching ripple effects on society.

Any aspirations you might have are hampered by a lack of honesty.

Choosing to cultivate honesty as one of your characters traits is a necessity if you want to be successful in life. So is your reputation and emotional well being.

Many people go through life wondering why circumstances fail to break their way. Frequently it's his or her character flaw, such as lying, or limits a chance for success.


https://ezinearticles.com/?10-Reasons-Why-Honesty-Is-Important-to-Be-Successful&id=10331398

Forgiveness - What? How? And Most Of All - Why?

Forgiveness allows you to break free from bad baggage

Forgiveness - What? How? And Most Of All - Why?

Holidays are a tough time for many people because most of us have family issues. People are depressed either because they don't have a family, or they're depressed because they do and it's a mess. That makes the holidays an opportune time to talk about the subject of Forgiveness - what it is, how to go about doing it and most of all why.

What Is Forgiveness?

Hurt and anger are natural and normal responses when a wrong has been done to us. In fact, it is healthier to acknowledge that we were hurt than to pretend that everything is fine. It's not about whining, it's about honesty. Denial will turn into resentments that fester in dark places. We cannot heal until we are honest with ourselves.

But there is such a thing as 'too much honesty'; once we have felt our anger, perhaps stewed and grieved for a time we need to let it go or it will turn against us. Holding on to anger is like drinking poison and hoping the other person will die. We're the only ones getting hurt. It becomes a necessity to take our foot off the neck of the offender.

We cannot wait until the injury is healed. It is not like taking off a bandage after the wound has healed. In this case the wound cannot really heal unless the bandage comes off first. Forgiveness is not something we do for the offender; it is necessary to do it for ourselves in order to heal.

How To Forgive

So everyone tells us to do it but nobody tells us how. The reason there aren't any instructions for forgiveness is because it is not really a thing in itself.

Forgiveness is not a process one can follow step by step; rather it is an awareness we gain. As long as we are caught up in tunnel vision all we can see is the injury and the wrong that has been done. In order for Forgiveness to occur we must step back and see the bigger picture. In order to see the big picture we must turn to Truth.

The Blame Game

It seems that almost everyone has taken a certain amount of damage from his or her childhood. It seems that way but that's not really true. Truth is that we did not enter this incarnation with a blank slate. We already had a certain energetic frequency level; the same level at which we left the last lifetime. We picked our parents accordingly, based on a frequency that matched our own; otherwise we could not have attracted them.

Our parents were people who consciously or unconsciously made themselves available to bring us into this physical world. They lent us their DNA out of which our bodies were formed. Without them we could not be here. Regardless of their level of parenting skills we owe them a karmic debt of gratitude for this.

The Iceberg Principles teach us that in this Universe our life experiences are reflections of our own beliefs and perceptions. Although our family's criticisms, lack of support, and abuse were real it could not have happened unless there was a match to our own beliefs and perceptions about what we deserved. The level of esteem at which we held ourselves became reflected in our parent's treatment of us. Since most of labored under the belief that we are much less than perfect, our childhood experiences reflected this.

What this means for us today is that we can stop playing the blame game. We can stop assigning culpability for our experiences to our parents. If they had given us anything different we would not have been able to perceive it. It would not have been a match to us. We can stop meting out punishment; our parent's behavior was simply a reflection of our highest level of awareness for us at the time. Their treatment of us was the best we could imagine for ourselves then.

Experiencing God's Forgiveness | Our Daily Bread Ministries

The Best We Can Do

We do not come from our parents; we come through them. We share their physical DNA and we share a similar energetic frequency. This is the reason we appear so similarities to them. Bear in mind that the thing you most hate about your parents must also be in you, otherwise you could not see it.

My point is that you parents are people just like you. Just like you they did not come with a manual on how to act. Just like you they made mistakes. Just like you they can only ever do the best they can.

In some instances it might have appeared as if they were being intentionally mean. This might be true, however their actions were nevertheless rooted in ignorance. Nobody can hurt anybody else without first and finally hurting himself or herself first. If they had knows what they were doing to themselves, on an energetic, karmic level, they would not have done so. As it stood they were operating at their highest level of awareness. They may have fallen far short of proper conduct but it is still they best of which they are capable. Nobody can know more than they know.

Breaking The Cycle

Nobody can jump over his or her own shadow. The only way to break the cycle of hurt is to give them a break. Sometimes the very thought of giving a break to someone who has hurt us deeply is offensive but it is the only way to stop the pain that we are feeling.

The key to finding forgiveness is the recognition that everyone is always operating at his or her highest level of awareness. The moment we give somebody else a break we give ourselves a break, too. The moment we let them off the hook we can feel something inside of us let go. Our feeling for the other person may be less than loving but if we continue to hold them in condemnation we are the ones who continue to get hurt. As long as we hold on to our 'righteous anger' it is ourselves we hold imprisoned.

The Huge Pay-Off

Our family members reflect all of us. They reflect our worst in us but they also reflect our very best. As long as we remain focused on the bad we never get to the good. What we focus on always looms largest. As long as we remain focused on our family's mistakes we miss the good parts in them, and therefore we miss the good parts in ourselves as well.

Nobody's childhood was all-bad. No matter how horrible things might have been, there were happy moments that should be treasured but these moments remain locked away from memory as long as we only focus on the bad stuff. Unless we choose to end the cycle we can never experience the good again. Now however it is no longer on the offender; now it is us who is keeping the offense alive. We become the guilty party.

When we forgive the beautiful moments come back to us. This focus in the good is ultimately this is the only way in which we can finally; permanently heal the wounds of our childhood.

The True Spirit Of The Holidays

As you stop the cycle of anger towards your family - whether alive or dead - you break your own karmic cycle of ignorance and clear away the karmic misconceptions, which created the circumstances of your birth. You clean the slate. Your energetic frequency increases and you become ever more aware of your true nature, which is love.

As you become more loving it not only reflects in your own experience but also in the world around you. When you give yourself permission to forgive you literally make the world a better place and isn't that after all what the holidays are really all about?



https://ezinearticles.com/?Forgiveness---What?-How?-And-Most-Of-All---Why?&id=8159760

What Is the Origin of Your Anger?

Man Facing Sideways

Both proverbial and of cliché proportions, the term "tip of the iceberg" has been used to compare and shed light on numerous aspects in life, emphasizing that what one sees jutting out of the water is only a tiny portion of the greater mass upon which it rests below it. One of them is anger, since what you feel about circumstances and people later in life may have very early, subsurface origins.

Perhaps using others as a mirror when I was an adult-that is, viewing them with the same trusting eyes, integrity, and honesty I projected-I was sometimes disappointed, receiving, instead, betrayal, lies, and defamation, and not realizing that their low and lesser-than behavior had nothing to do with me, but everything to do with the efficiencies from which they functioned.

Unsuspecting, I was never prepared for their underhanded actions and usually raged about them for a considerable period--anywhere from weeks to months to years--perplexed as I asked myself such questions as, "How could they do such things to me?" "Why didn't I see that coming?" "Where was their remorse, regret, sorrow, feeling, conscience, embarrassment, or empathy for the hurt they inflicted on me?"

Those who continually heard my tirades were compelled to ask, "When are you going to get over it already?"

I could not. Therefore, I could not answer them.

Examination of my ire revealed two significant aspects of it: (1). Its intensity and (2) Its duration.

Why, I wondered, did I rage with such insatiable vehemence and why, despite the multiply-repeated tirades, did they never lose their intensity, regardless of the time lapse?

I ultimately realized that my late anger was the smoke produced by the early, still-smoldering fire lit by my father's abusive, traumatizing, life-threatening, predatory chases, projections, toxin transfers, enmeshments, and soul-siphoning-late layers, if you will, of an early, never dismantled foundation. Like threads stitched by time, they all stretched back to those unresolved incidents.

Physically blocked and suspended of power, I was immobilized, unable to run, harness the internal explosion of stress hormones, or even cry or scram. A single word afterward, interpreted by a mentally unstable parent, would only have been viewed as "talking back" and "disrespect of elders," inviting more of the same. It would have very much been the equivalent of pulling my own trigger. Little had I known that my father had been subjected to the same treatment as a child and that my sheer presence actually pulled his own trigger.

Squelching, suppressing, and swallowing it all, I became a backed-up volcano, always awaiting my own internal eruption and I always chose the lesser-and less detrimental-of two evils: remain silent until I imploded or talk back and risk further physical harm in the name of "justifiable discipline." It was a lose-lose situation, a damned-if-you-do and damned-if-you-don't' choice.

But the brain, by means of its neuron recordings of the negative, counter-survival experiences it is subjected to, only has so much capacity to absorb, like the sponge that tries to soak up a spilled gallon of water. After it reaches its capacity, the rest will ooze out of it until it virtually drowns in it.

Relevantly, the later-in-life authority figures, unrecovered adult children, and qualifiers triggered these never-diffused bombs and lit the match on the image of the father I had never processed and forgiven-not to mention still feared. Subconsciously, they wore his displaced face.

I could not "finish out" and reach a level of release, relinquish, and satisfaction with those I encountered as an adult, because they tripped the circuit I never diffused with my father as a child. This was the origin of my anger.

Anger, from a psychological perspective, is negative energy and emotion, a natural and automatic response to a person or circumstance who or which wronged you, especially in cases of unfairness, unexpectedness, and injustice. There can be either an internal or an external trigger to it.

Originating in the primitive or stem portion of the brain, it can be a defensive reaction to a threat, stressor, or loss. It provides a channel for the expression of negative feelings and can spark or motivate a person into solution- and survival-oriented actions. Because it never occurs in isolation and is usually preceded by pain or painful feelings, it can be characterized as a "second hand emotion."

Underlying anger is always hurt.

From the adult child perspective, anger is a normal reaction to an abnormal circumstance.

Spiritual or religious discussions warn of its overtaking nature, if it is not resolved, quelled, or kept in check. "In your anger, do not sin," the Bible advises.

"Get rid of all bitterness, rage, and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice."

"Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires"-in other words, if you think that you are doing his work for him, you are not.

Although these quotes bespeak of ultimate truths, they are almost impossible to achieve and maintain when the fires of an abusive childhood still rage within you, waiting to be doused and dissolved with recovery. They may be the origins of your own anger, as expressed in Courage to Change (Al-Anon Family Group Headquarters, 1992, p. 341). "Before Al-Anon, I'd have sworn I didn't have an angry bone in my body. Through working the steps, however, I discovered that, without knowing it, I'd often been furious with the alcoholic in my life. I began to recognize anger while it was happening... It felt great to reclaim these repressed parts of myself. I felt more whole, more powerful... "

The person seems to share the same origin of anger as I and was equally forced to squelch it. All roads lead to Rome and all anger apparently leads to your abuser.

The solution for me came from shifting my focus from the tip of the iceberg later-in-life to the foundation laid by my father earlier in it and realizing that this insatiable, unshakable emotion was due to my inability to confront and express to him what I had been forced to absorb. This was the true origin of my anger.

Can you think of any of your own that you now believe was displaced and out-of-proportion for the person or the circumstance? Can you trace it back to the original ones? Was it something you never processed or resolved or someone you never forgave? Can you determine that what you wanted to express to someone as an adult may have been the same, unfinished emotions you should have vented to your parent, abuser, alcoholic, or qualifier as a child?

This, too, may be the origin of your anger.



https://ezinearticles.com/?What-Is-the-Origin-of-Your-Anger?&id=9752241

Truthlessness Versus Truthfulness



These are two wonderful words that produce an amazing juxtaposition of terms, definitions, and intent in living and in life. Truthlessness embodies lies and deceit, fooling others while sometimes tricking yourself into believing that the tangled web you have created has shreds and evidence of honesty and integrity. Young children often tell lies to save themselves trouble and punishment. It is difficult to be honest when a swat or a grounding will result and dishonesty will permit a handy escape. But hopefully as the child grows and experiences more of live, s/he will realize that while a lie may be followed by a penalty it is still the best method, the wisest choice in the long run. The truth is a multi-faceted charm.

Truthfulness on the other hand embodies truth and candor, openness that is direct and reliable, built on faithfulness and dedication to others and/or the common good. When someone is truthful s/he still possesses desires and wishes but is also able to look at a situation or problem from many angles to discover the answer that best serves all concerned. While sometimes the truth may hurt, like when you are denied a promotion or do not receive a promised bonus, there is an opportunity to learn as well. This learning may be positive as in, "She worked harder and had more clever ideas than I did and so she deserved this promotion. Because of this I will work to become more productive and far-sighted by... " Or the learning may be negative, "The boss loves him and so I never really had a chance. I just think I will fume and stew for a while. I'll show that ol' boss... "

Either response is possible and I suppose the degree of truthlessness or truthfulness varies in every situation and perspective. So I guess it is essential to examine situations through a multitude or at least a couple of lenses - yours, that of your strongest opponent, and perhaps a mid-stream opinion. After all, everyone has lived different experiences and has thus developed different ways of thinking, responding, and doing.

How does one move to total truthfulness, especially with extensive experience in truthlessness? Some children, for example, are raised in lies. Parents lie to the boss or to child welfare or to food stamp providers and so the kids think this is just the way to live. Mom begs on the street and "earns" hundreds of dollars a day so it must be an honorable and honest profession. How does an outsider explain and exemplify how truthfulness is far more beneficial and rewarding? The best a leader can do, I guess, is lead but a truthful example and demand that of all employees and others with whom s/he works and interacts does so as well.

Maybe that is the only way to guide to truthfulness, one leader/parent/director/teacher at a time living in honesty and integrity, admitting strengths and recognizing and working on changing weaknesses. Imagine a world of total truth. Tough skin would be an initial requirement because the truth can be spikey and pokey, painful and nightmarish. But then once you knew with total belief that only sincerity and uprightness exist and there is no need of fear because there is no danger, just authenticity, wow! What a safe and creatively exciting world would appear.


Virtue - Is It Achievable?

"All the gold which is under or upon the earth is not enough to give in exchange for virtue." (Plato, philosopher)

The idea of virtue can feel a little scary. Surely no-one can be such a worthy human being as to do no wrong, show courage at all times, and be full of generosity and kindness with everybody? To do good all the time doesn't feel like the real me. I suspect few people feel they are born like this and I certainly don't. And what is virtue anyway? Do we have to be so extremely good in order to show virtue? Is this not an excessive expectation?

Virtue in contemporary spirituality
Modern spiritual writers are interested in universal ideas common to different traditions. For example Roger Walsh encourages the reader to recognise and cultivate higher values. Examples are justice, altruism, beauty, the sacred and understanding truth.

Walsh contrasts these with lower values such as money, possessions, bodily pleasure, power, and fame. He finds virtue in the higher values. In contrast, he says neglecting spiritual principles and focusing on lower values can result in a lack of well-being. You are more likely to suffer from boredom, craving, cynicism, alienation, stress, and lack of meaning in your life when you prioritise lower values unrelated to virtue.

Virtue as understood in ancient Greece
The way the ancient Greeks thought about virtue is of relevance. Plato thought that virtue is associated with being wise.

Similarly, Aristotle wrote that virtue is excellence at being human and thus involves understanding what is right for the situation.

"At the right times, about the right things, towards the right people, for the right end, and in the right way, is the intermediate and best condition, and this is proper to virtue." (Aristotle, philosopher)

In other words virtue is taking into account rational considerations when being courageous, generous, or kind according to the circumstances. I think Aristotle is saying doing what is worthy and good doesn't necessarily mean behaving in an excessive way.

"Exactness and neatness in moderation is a virtue, but carried to extremes narrows the mind." (Francois Fenelon)

Virtue could thus be said to be acting in between two extremes in a rational light.

For example courage is a virtue that lies between cowardice and foolhardiness. You can foolishly throw away your life by thoughtlessly doing something beyond your ability.

Generosity is between miserliness and being recklessly profligate with one's money. You can imprudently neglect your own needs, and the needs of your own family, by being overgenerous.

I see kindness as between indifference and doing too much. Fixing things by solving problems doesn't enable children to learn things for themselves. Doing too much for the elderly can foster unnecessary dependence.

There is no virtue in taking things too far by mindlessly not considering consequences for what you do.

Virtue in tradition of Western World and Middle East
The ten commandments are less well known these days and are often regarded as old hat. Some of them are however the basis for our criminal law. We might want to bring our understanding of them up to date. If we look for a spirit of virtue within them, do these rules also require wisdom for their practice?

Arguably, the command 'Do not kill' is saying don't become hateful or violent. Perhaps the spirit behind this is urging us to enhance life by nurturing, protecting, showing kindness and being useful. However, is it going too far to never get angry even when such a response is justified?

The command about not bearing false witness is about not telling lies. A deeper understanding of this might be being honest with others and with oneself. Also keeping promises and living with integrity. But could one unwisely take this command to its extreme? For example, by being too honest, tactlessly pointing negative things out to others at the wrong time, or ruminating on one's own trivial mistakes.

There is a command about not committing adultery. Isn't the spirit of this law to do with nurturing the family bond by being loyal to one's partner and not acting seductively with others? Taken to extremes, one condemns and avoids all expressions of sexuality in the arts or in normal leisure contexts.

One command 'Do not steal' in effect tells us to respect the property and ideas of others, and give credit for them. More extreme than this would be to maintain upright respectability with false modesty about one's own law-abiding citizenship.

"Hypocrisy is the tribute that vice pays to virtue." (Grover Norquist)

In other words, what is good in these rules can be distorted because of a lack of wisdom in their application.

Wisdom and virtue
One can point to a distinction between what is naturally and spiritually good. With the former there is no truth of wisdom.

"People... whose good is merely natural can be carried away by falsity as easily as by truth, provided that in outward appearance the falsity looks like truth. They can also be led as easily by evil as by good, provided that the evil is presented as good. They are like feathers in the wind." (Emanuel Swedenborg, spiritual philosopher)

In other words, true virtue is a developed quality of character rather than the impulse of one's natural disposition. It is a rock in the face of the winds of life.

We may not naturally have much in the way of virtue - forgiveness, kindness, courage, humour, generosity, humility, contentment, or honesty. However, I conclude that doing good in an enlightened manner leads to a sense of well-being and feeling energised by life. I would say, virtue is achievable, as long as you seek the wisdom of rational thought needed to make use of good inclinations.



http://ezinearticles.com/?Virtue---Is-It-Achievable?&id=9809781

2 First Impression Skills You Can Do Now


First impression skills can be learned. The following 2 skills are the nuts and bolts of making a lasting positive first impression.

Making a positive first impression takes only a few seconds. It also requires only a few seconds to do or say something where the consequence may be impossible to fix.

First Impression Skill # 1 Be Honest

Each of us learn this fundamental truth, be honest, in youth. Yet, many people embellish the truth about themselves.

For example, during a job interview, people boast of how they made a project successful or how they are very good at doing a specific task.

The truth is they contributed little to the project or only have a basic understanding of how to do a task.

Little white lie is okay, right?

The first impression skill of honesty goes beyond interviewing for a job.

Like a job interview, on a first-date, people tend to spin-their-story. They do this thinking this will win the heart of the person they are with.

Little white lie is okay, right?

The first impression skill of honesty is important because embellishing who you are is foolhardy.

Why?

First, astute potential employers will do a background check. Similarly, first dates and people you meet for the first time do exactly what you do when you meet someone new - check their social media profiles.

Question, is your social media profile consistent with who you are?

It needs to be. Potential employers check-it out. Would be dates, check-it out. And everyone and anyone who you meet for the first time is likely to look at your social media footprint.

If you are anything less than you, you will be found out. First impression skill number one is be honest.

By-the-way, why do I say 'skill'?

Answer, because it is so easy to fall into the trap of little white lies that you have to consciously work at being truthful. Being honest ought to come natural. Today you have to learn it.

First Impression Skills #2 Be You

Trying too hard to make a great first impression can be disastrous. What happens, is that you try to be what is out-of-character for you. Most people can see through this.

The secret to a great start is just being you.

Okay, sounds easier than said. You want to be liked. You want the job. Maybe you are even a little self-confident, so you try to pretend to be more macho than you are.

Unfortunately, you cannot keep up the charade forever.

Just being you means the other person, potential employer or potential love, meets the real you. If there is not a good match between the real you, better to find out now than weeks down the road. Better to not start a relationship than to have one based on a disguise.

First impression skill number 2 is stop trying and just be. Be you.

http://ezinearticles.com/?2-First-Impression-Skills-You-Can-Do-Now&id=9841540

The Following Are Some Techniques of Reducing Stress, Not Necessarily in That Order


1. Take regular breaks from work.

If you feel like stress is overwhelming you, it is important that you take regular breaks from your activities. Working long hours without rest, will create a buildup of stress and tension. However, if you take regular breaks, and "have a change of scenery", you will discover that you will relieve some significant amount of stress.

2. Share your problem with a friend.

Find a friend whom you can trust, and open up to. You are likely to find out that your friend will give you some helpful insights and encourage you to carry on in life. This will go a long way in reducing your stress.

3. Meditate.

You should take some time off and meditate to relieve stress. This technique is not complicated. You just find a quiet place with a soothing atmosphere, make yourself comfortable, close your eyes and start freeing your mind of all thoughts. When a thought pops in your mind, gently visualize it moving along. You will end up benefiting a lot from meditation.

4. Take a deep breath.

This technique works tremendously well. No special equipment needed to do this. You can do it anywhere. Start by simply breathing slowly then deeply in through the nose and out through the mouth. You will begin to feel the relaxation effects which will go a long way in relieving your stress.

Do not allow stress to get the better part of you. Take action now, and use any one of the techniques described. You are responsible for your own state of mind. The buck stops here! As a stress free being, you will experience the happiness and joy you deserve!

The Art of Real Honesty

Truth! A five letter word that we wish would make the world run! A clear word that wins you respect, trust, and favor. A tiny word that brings to you friends that are worthy of your character and your direction in life.

Truth is a virtue that will help you live a stress free life, with no fear of repercussions. Many people have had to live a life of mastering lies upon lies, in order to escape the disgrace of being found out.

Yes, some may have succeeded at it, and still survived up till now, but they live in constant fear of what might happen to them the next day, or hour or minute. People who tell lies put a huge burden on their backs, and have to twist words and use tricks in order to get through the day.

Happiness is a choice! I wonder how many people would realize that? We were born into this world being happy. Just watch babies and younger children, they are happy and eager to explore the world. Everybody would agree that we all would love to be happy with our families, finances, health, relationships and everything that surrounds us. Why aren't we? The door to happiness is always open.

http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Following-Are-Some-Techniques-of-Reducing-Stress,-Not-Necessarily-in-That-Order&id=9335100

You Need To Stop Acting Like You’re Perfect


You want to know what I like? Honesty. I like when people can admit when things in their life aren’t going so hot. I like when they can just come right out and say you know..shit sucks right now but I’m dealing with it,I’ll be good. It’s refreshing. You know what I don’t like? Fake.
No one’s life is perfect. Anyone can force their family into their Sunday best and threaten cheesy smiles on their faces and snap a pic like all is dandy. Contrary to popular belief however, not all people are stupid. We can see that you’ve only put up head shots since 2009 because you gained the freshman 35. So what? We know you and your boyfriend broke up LAST week so chances are you aren’t really “so ridiculously in love” as you have mentioned three times this week. Do not even get me started on members of your own family doing said things (family means..I’m aware of all the skeletons in your closet and the troubles in paradise.) It is okay! Shit happens.
I don’t want any people (many people) being miserable and hating their lives. I just don’t see the point in glamorizing your own life in attempt to portray this perfect facade. I am a chronic down player. The good things that happen to me I don’t like to or want to excessively gloat about them, because I find it rude. I bought a new car recently, you know what most of my friends said when they saw it? “Oh I didn’t know you got a new car.” Correct, because I never want to make someone feel bad by shoving my mundane successes in their face.

We all know people that whatever day, time, or moment we ask them how they are things are, they are just fuckin-a- fantastic. Sometimes things just suck and we all know that. I respect people a HELL of a lot more when they can admit that and stop trying to play the “my life is better than yours” game. No one is perfect. Didn’t your mother ever teach you that? Maybe you were one of those kids whose parents called them “Princess” until they were 35. In that case, that explains a lot.