Blindfolding ourselves

I’m continuing to enjoy Will by Will Smith. Here’s another line that’s stayed with me:

Sometimes we'd rather blindfold ourselves than take a cold, hard look at the world exactly as it is.

Denial, it seems, is part of human nature. Put another way, we have a tendency as humans to put a narrative over painful truths to stop us facing up to reality.

Whenever we convince ourselves of an alternative storyline, we are choosing to cover our eyes.

Every time we fill our lives up to the point we never slow down, we stop ourselves from facing up to reality.

The mystics have long valued silence, stillness, and solitude. They know this is when the truth – slowly, often painfully – rises to the surface.

We resist these practices today because we’re afraid of the truth that might emerge.

This may work for a while. But soon enough, truth comes crashing through. It always does.

Thankfully, it’s the truth that sets us free.

Better to remove the blindfold ourselves than wait for life to rip it from our faces when we’re least expecting it.

–Sam

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@samradford | samradford.com