D.E.N.I.A.L.

Have you ever heard "DENIAL is not a river in Egypt." Well I have an even better one, Denial stands for: Don't Even Know I Am Lying.
It's hard to believe that denial would be classified as a feeling. I think Denial would be considered a numbing device, like Novocain for the soul.
It's amazing the excuses we can come up with just so we can remain in denial. Denial prevents us from seeing the whole truth. The myths that we feed others and ourselves can be down right embarrassing. And the discovery of it is usually in hindsight. It's that old saying "if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's a DUCK". It's amazing the efforts we go to to rationalize and justify our own denial.

IT MAY SOUND LIKE:

* "You don't understand, he's had a hard life" or

* "She was just doing the best she knew how".

What I find interesting is the avoidance of the actual truth. We make excuses for inappropriate behaviors. We manipulate (manipulation is getting your way while looking like a "good guy" while doing it) it and classify it as a "unique" situation.

Plain and simple, denial s a protection mechanism. In the words of Jack Nicholson from the movie "A Few Good Men" "You can't handle the truth". These myths that we tell ourselves are because we are afraid we can't handle the truth. Who would we be if you admitted the honest, unfiltered truth? What would the truth look like for you?

I think we all are guilty of having an element of denial in our lives. It doesn't make us bad or wrong, we were just protecting ourselves. So the next time you catch yourself in a lame excuse ask yourself, "What truth am I avoiding? ".

Finally I think this statement describes denial best-- from my idol Judge Judith Scheindlan (AKA Judge Judy, The Ultimate Truth Sayer) "Don't pee on my leg and tell me it's raining". Just remember, it's not rain.

To put my money where my mouth is I am not allowing myself to live in denial either. I respect your time and email space, so if you no longer want to receive my newsletters please opt out at the end of this page.