We Are The Champions

Something we are all champions of is, rationalizing our behavior. We rationalize to comfort ourselves when we choose for our wants rather than our needs, or what we are needed for. We sometimes even congratulate ourselves, even though we really know better. This dissonance creates a struggle for us. With all the struggles presented to us on our climb, why do we self-impose more? When we do this we deceive ourselves and take us off our target, our purpose.

A king was traveling with his band of men through the forest. They came across a farm where they stopped to replenish their provisions. The king noticed the side of a barn where there were several bulls-eyes painted. Each bulls-eye had an arrow squarely in the center. The King asked the farmer who shot those arrows and the farmer told him it was his young son. The king wanted to see the boy in action. The young boy appeared with his bow and arrow. He shot at the side of the barn and hit a blank spot. He then walked to the barn and drew a bull’s-eye around the arrow, with the arrow right in the center.*

Be true to yourself. Let the inner-self/soul be transcendent. To do this we must have the strength of our core to recognize when we miss our goal and where improvement is needed. It is too easy to fall into the trap of fooling ourselves. Rather than move the arrow squarely in the center, look squarely at yourself.

“Thou shall not steal” also meant “Thou shall not steal from thyself; not deceive thyself. All the sins of the world weigh less than the conceit born of self-deception.” – Reb Mendel of Kotzk

“I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and to incur my own abhorrence.” – Frederick Douglass

*I wish I remembered the source for this story so that I could give credit where it’s due