Self-Deception,Reality,and Fuelling the Brain

"Man's main task in life is to give birth to himself, to become what he potentially is."– Erich Fromm

As I promised, more information about self-deception. According to the Wall Street Journal article, by the age of three children have a tendency to see themselves as smart regardless of their abilities as well as exaggerating positive traits in others. How many mothers have called their kids “precocious” and “smart”   at an early age?  Did your mother tell you that you were a smart and precocious kid? By adolescence, one fourth of college bound students rated themselves in the top 1% in their ability to get along with others.  On another study by Dr. Keating, female students who took leadership positions, on campus, scored higher on measures of self-deception than the control group. According to Dr. Triver’s, many people have a way of fooling their inner eye and believe they are more successful or attractive than they really are.

In the late 1970s, I did research on Ego Identity development comparing pregnant versus non- pregnant teenagers. On one projective of measure of body image, I found that the pregnant teens viewed themselves more significantly more attractive than the control group as far as clothing accessories and lean attractive bodies were concerned. What is your perception of your body image?

Since more than likely, at times, we all employ self-deception; the task is not to rely on self-deception so it becomes a habit. For me, I have to remind myself that I don’t run quite as fast as I used to and that is okay. That does not mean that I don’t want to improve with my speed and endurance as Secretariat can attest.

Often self deception can become a hindrance as related to job, running or relationship issues, if your major focus is on achievements or public image. So if you fail at your goals or have a lack of achievement success and maintain an excuse over and over that you will solve it or remedy the problem with the next run or the next task, watch out. Individuals like Steve Jobs, Einstein or Thomas Edison type are obviously exceptions.

During yesterday’s trail training run, Secretariat told me that he may start out with a self-deception i.e. running a three hour marathon but then reality hits and then he readjusts his goal. We also talked about holding two contradictory ideas or beliefs at the same time and traced that quality back to our fathers.

Today’s trail run was with Joan and covered about 12 miles.  Fuelling the brain and proper hydration is very important. Being on the trail is difficult and we require the necessary fuel to keep moving.