527. Denial

When you say to yourself "I am not in this situation, I don't care." when in fact you are in that very situation, then you are in a state of denial. Denial equals Delusion. This is a very unhealthy mental state and should be avoided at all costs. When you deny what you know in your heart to be true, you are practicing Active Ignorance. In short you are lying to yourself. It leads only to misery and pain.

Denial is a major gateway to mental illness and ultimately, if taken to its logical conclusion, leads one to madness and destruction.

When a situation that you do not like develops, rather than going into denial, stand back and review and evaluate it thoroughly. See what, if anything, is to be done about it. Work out what the most appropriate response is and take action on it. Then let the bally thing go and move on from it.

You do not always have to respond immediately. Oftentimes, you have enough time to meditate and consider all your options before rushing in.

506. See Things as they Really Are.

One definition of a wise man is one who sees things as they really are and not how he would like them to be. This is called the faculty of discernment. Avoid fooling yourself and remember that self delusion is the worst form of delusion - you yourself will always be the easiest person you can fool. Self-delusion is the most widespread mental illness that there is and it is the root of serious loss of sanity. Strive always to see things as they really are. You should always look below the surface in any situation and try to see what's really going on. If you don't like what you see, devise methods to make things how you would like them to be, but never fool yourself into thinking that they are as you would like when in fact they are not.