Fooling One's Self

It's interesting to note how we fool ourselves. This is particularly true when faced with temptation. It's amazing how easy it is for us to convince ourselves we are capable of handling the responsibility of a big job when faced with the temptation of the power, money and status that comes with the position.

Others have the opposite problem, when faced with temptation, they find the reasons why they are not equipped to handle the responsibility.

One is not preferred over the other... I guess that it depends on the nature of the temptation and the price tag for indulging.

What distinguishes people that we respect from people that we don't is that one of them stands for what they believe in and lets the world respond however it will to this. The other redefines what they believe in each moment to suit their situation. Most people live between these two extremes.

I almost forgot a key ingredient for fooling people... fooling others. One of the best ways to delude yourself is to start by trying to get others to believe what you want about you. This could be that you're a good son/daughter, loyal & dedicated husband/wife, trustworthy business partner, a chaste/virgin woman.... the list goes on. This is what many of us spend most of efforts on.

The bottom line is that the more we fool others, the more we start believing the BS that we spread. Over time we start losing touch with reality and all we have left is a feeling of fear and insecurity.