Thursday, June 4, 2009

The sweet gift of self-deception

self-de·cep·tion • n. the action or practice of allowing oneself to believe that a false or unvalidated feeling, idea, or situation is true

When you read the dictionaries’ definition of self-deception you might wonder why I have called it a sweet gift. Surely there can be nothing good about allowing oneself to believe untrue things? Haven’t we been taught to value truth above anything?

Well, I’m not going to take you all down a philosophical path discussing morality and the eternal questions. All I want to do is shed a little light on how a certain amount of self-deception makes my life much happier.

Here are a few examples:

It’s ok to have a BigMac as long as I gulp it down with diet Coke. The calories sort of cancel each other out. (I do seem to remember from math that pluss and minus equal minus…)

I’m really a very punctual person. If I didn’t have two kids to get ready in the morning I would always be at work on time. (My boss is now raising his left eyebrow)

Every now and then I experience that one of my pants have shrunk in the washer. Don’t you hate when that happens? Your favorite pair of jeans suddenly feels like they are cutting you off at the middle. I immediately go out to buy a new pair and complain to my husband about our washer. It’s just very unreliable.

I’m actually quite intellectual and would prefer to watch the news and panel debates on TV. It’s just that my husband prefers watching Desperate Housewives, Grey’s Anatomy and the Bachelor…

As long as I wear black, I'll look skinny... (Yes, it's true!) I'm also pretty sure that big hair will make my butt look smaller.

If I just invite people at nighttime, with lots of candles and flowers spread all around, they won’t notice the dust bunnies breeding like crazy under the coffee-table.

I don´t spend too much money shopping. I only shop the bare necessities. (Like things for the kids, things for the house, things for my husband, things for my friends, things for myself and things on sale...)

A good friend of mine loves Snowballs (kokosboller). She’ll eat many of them and proclaims that they are made out of coco, which is a fruit, and that you should eat five fruits a day! (I´m quite sure that coco isn't a fruit, it's probably a nut... but hey, who am I to burst her bubble!)

Ibsen said: If you take the life lie (self-deception) from an average man, you take away his happiness as well. I have found this to be quite true. (I wouldn’t call myself average of course. I have always considered myself kind of unique!)

If you want to be happy about yourself and your circumstances a healthy dose of self-deception might be exactly what you need!

I know what I need: the yummy oatmeal raisin cookies that I baked today. And they are very, very healthy... I mean they have oatmeal! And raisins! (And there is NO chocolate in them whatsoever!) My guess is that they have as many calories as an apple. Which means I can eat five...

Nå har jeg registrert meg på Bloggurat

11 comments:

- fruNelia said...

fantastic! I love selfdeception. I know I should have had an extra portion of dessert today. It was fruit, you know. A trifle - thing. And a little bit of whipped cream. But that counts as tday's ration of calcium, doesn't it? I don't want osteoprisis in the future...

Dreamgirl said...

Good thinking fru Nelia! I will make sure that I have some myself... That calcium thing also applies to cheese right? I have a bag of cheesedoodles that are calling my name... I can justify the cheese, but how about the doodles? Hmmm....

Unknown said...

Å kjære, nå har vi ledd godt her, herrrrlig skrevet!!! Og jeg er sååå enig! Jeg siterte faktisk vår venn Ibsen i dag, gitt...
Ellers tuuuusen takk for deilige kommentarer og nydelig sms, jeg gleder meg til julegave og i det hele tatt...!
Jeg vet denne Hvalerturen er litt sår, men trøst deg med at det er utedo der og en diger padde som heter Tristan på stien til utedoen... Hjalp det? ;o)
Ellers gleder vi oss til Hvitsten den 20.juni!!!!
Takk for dine bevingede ord om min fortreffelighet som blogg guru..., søt er du, men her inne er det så mange flinke og se hva du har fått til selv på null komma niks!

Og vedr vesken har du helt rett, den skal fylles med Nannistuff, yiiihaaaa!
Godklem og sussipanna!

Woman in a Window said...

Yes, if an apple a day keeps the doctor away, just imagine what five apples will do for health!

I like your logic.

Dreamgirl said...

Thanks for stopping by Woman in Window. I have been reading your blog all night (it's now 2 am here in Norway!) I love your writing!

I'm sure I'll keep the doctor away for a very long time...

Som mine dager er said...

Hi Dreamgirl. Takk for trøstende ord inne hos meg. Måtte besøke deg også vettu. Har kost meg med dine selvbedrag og ledd godt. Man blir i godt humør her inne hos deg. Farger, ord og bilder. Også deler du med oss hvor du finner bakgrunn, fonter etc og det liker jeg. Det er så alt for mange som skal holde slikt hemmelig. Selv har jeg lagt ut hvordan man lager tingeling-effekten på musepekeren. Enkelte kommer tilbake og takker etterpå. Jeg liker å dele jeg ;-)

Har kost meg her inne. Synes du har noe å bidra med, så jeg kommer gjerne tilbake. Tror sannelig jeg må bli en follower.

Ha en flott dag, i regn eller sol. Vi må bare ta det vi får.

Klem fra Marit

Anonymous said...

Hei kjære du! Er imponert over dine skriveferdigheter og attpåtil på engelsk! Du kan få sagt det. Enig at litt selvbedrag skader ikke. Alle mennesker benytter seg av det for å overleve. Bare ikke det tar overhånd, for da tror jeg det bir usunt på mange måter :-)!! Take care. Klemmer fra Prima Vera

Dreamgirl said...

Tusen takk for koselige kommentarer. Jeg fryder meg over at noen leser og humrer litt over mine små hverdagsbetraktninger;)

Jeg er enig med deg Prima Vera. En balanse mellom selvbedrag, selvironi og selvinnsikt er vel det vi alle trenger...

God helg!

Anonymous said...

Thank you for the belly laugh!!! I have enjoyed reading today and will come back and visit again. You can find me at loveinterwoven blogspot. Im looking forward to hearing from you.
I do the exact thing with my homemade oatmeal cookies and have even made that exuse while munching a couple for breakfast.
Blessings, Sue

mub said...

I had a good laugh while I was reading this list! Thanks =)

Ma What's 4 dinner said...

I'm with ya on the cheeseburger/diet coke thing. Is it ok to have fries if I have a frozen yogurt for dessert????

Happy SITS day.

Alex aka Ma What's for Dinner
www.mawhats4dinner.com

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