The mind is unquestionably the greatest asset of mankind; what it does for us is amazing. I would also say not only good things are amazing. These two statements are both true, with neither changing the other in any way. And so, the mind can do terrible things to us.
It seems that the mind is fond of patterns. This- when combined with ego- is a mentally fatal combination. It can kill who we are, purely because it thinks it knows who we are. Through our experiences, through our feedback, through our conversations with friends, we learn what people think of us. And then, through ego, we identify what we like about this and what we dislike; we build an image of ourselves and put into the aura of it all the traits we'd like to be. And then, whether with consciousness or not, we play to those traits. We morph our actions from what gave us those traits to those actions we think will reinforce them. For one, these actions are automatically worthless, for they aren't genuine; the only actions that will continue building our image as it is are the same automatic, genuine, and true actions we've done all along.
But I don't want to talk about that at all, because rooted deeper than that is the true issue, the fatal poison: we build an image of ourselves based on others' image of us, and thus turn our lives into a role that we try to fit. But by definition, a role is an act; it is not true. The moment we take in and adjust to the thoughts of others, we destroy ourselves. Our true self fades in the back and watches as the life we lead strays farther and farther. But never does our true self disappear, and this is the important part.
Haven't we all experienced a day, perhaps a period stretching over many days, perhaps months or longer, where we do things that we aren't truthfully committed to? We do it out of carelessness, and we do it with no effort- perhaps because often in this mode we have no effort to give, often we are husks in this mode, but that is a separate topic- and then later, once we are alone and subject only to our own thoughts, we feel like we've betrayed ourselves. Have you not experienced this? What comes with this is a vicious cycle that digs us deeper into our role and distances us further from our true self.
Soon (and it is soon; this happens faster than you may perceive it to, and once you perceive it, it's out of your grasp)- and this is where the weight of this problem takes its form- we are cut off from even the thoughts of our own true self. The only remaining feeling is something nagging at us, something caught in our bodies that makes living feel out of place, something that chokes us on our words, something that puts out our passions. And, when this feeling gets particularly strong, we confront it, because we are left with nothing else to do. And that is where we learn what is, and how it is different from what is not.
When we confront these thoughts, we reach back and make contact with our true selves, the self that knows all and denies nothing; it is one and the same with the truth of our lives. It is when we confront these thoughts that we recognize what we really think, what we really want, how we really feel. It is then that we understand ourselves, and feel comfortable once again in who we are; the shed the costume of our role and we rid ourselves of our script; we embrace life as it is, we understand what is.
For this reason and many others, I strongly believe every person should frequently subject themselves to the confessions of their deepest, most hidden thoughts, and then they should embrace those results. They should live with the new thoughts; they should act on these re-discoveries, and once again merge with their true selves. Because, when we say things such as "I'm going to pretend this isn't real..." are we not already admitting that whatever "this" is is in fact real? By admitting that we are pretending, we are admitting the truth of "this." And then what point is there in pretending? You will only put yourself back into that role, once again banishing and betraying your true self, and any action from there will be based on a facade. And what kind of life is one based on facades?
More than this, what sense does it make to lie to our mind? Anything we possibly know is stored in our minds. To try to deny our minds information that it already has and knows to be true is a contradictory; how does it follow to hide information from something with all information? To consciously deny information that the subconscious knows to be true, and thus what your true self and what your deepest self knows to be true, is to consciously and knowingly make the decision to live a life you do not truly want, and to continue even further from your true goals.
And so it is vitally important that we act on what is. It is key for us to embrace ourselves, because it is universally better for us to be ourselves, and the only way to do that is to not deny any truth, but to take it as truth and respond from there. We may not want it, but this reality is what it is with or without our permission. If there are truths you don't like, then accept that as the truth. It will make your true goal- to rid yourself of that truth- far more possible and much easier. This life, you will find, is a much better life when you and your true self are in constant agreement.
If there is a road to happiness, a path we can walk that gives us a good life, it is founded on what is.
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