Being honest with ourselves

In recent years with the popularity of Ozempic I'm reminded of this tweet that's seemingly prophetic now. It said "If all the fat-acceptance activists could take a pill to become skinny overnight, they all would."

Seeing videos of Lizzo trashing portraits of her old self, or actors who claimed to practice self-love now trotting the red carpet 50 pounds leaner makes me wonder about the concept of being true to ourselves. None of us are honest with ourselves about everything, this is just an obvious vision of it. But how useful is it really? Beyond an empty platitude does it actually help to be completely honest?

My thinking is without real agency and action behind that honesty, it only makes us sadder. A fat man who admits to himself he hates being fat but never goes for a jog is more depressed as a result of it. His failure to bring himself out of a state he despises just compounds his unhappiness with that state.

There were times in my life I wasn't ready to face some truths about myself, and I'm glad for the lies I told myself. Today there is a confidence in me and it says no matter how ugly or hard a truth is, it won't destroy me, or make me give up because I have a base level of respect for the person I am and that can't be taken away.

Ideally we all would be honest with ourselves, and it would be aided by consistent work that brings us closer to our truth, and one day we look in the mirror and see a person staring back who is the splitting image of our innermost self.

It's the dream, but there is no pill for it.