I’m a big fan of Comedy Central’s The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore. The #KeepIt100 segment, where panelists are asked a question and told to Keep it 100 (tell the truth), can be quite enlightening.
We humans say we value truth, but that’s not really the case, is it?
Who gets the promotion? The hard worker who is always there to ensure the job gets done, or the slick-talker who has his nose shoved up the boss’s ass? Come on, tell the truth!
Little lies are what keep us going.
Don’t you feel better when someone says your hair looks nice, even if you don’t think it does? Of course you do. You move to the nearest mirror and start admiring yourself.
Unless you’re depressed.
We tend to think of depressed people as feeling so bad that they cannot see the truth about themselves.
However, research is proving that people with clinical depression are the ones that are most likely to see how they really are. Professor Julian Keenan tells us that it’s the ability to self-enhance, or see ourselves better than we truly are, that separates us from persons with depression.
In other words, depression is the inability to lie to oneself.
Maybe that explains how someone lacking talent, education, knowledge, or experience, can be a talking head on television, get his or her own reality TV show, or be elected to Congress. We like it when people lie to us and make us feel good.
So the next time you’re finding yourself feeling a little down, look in the mirror and tell yourself how good you look. It may not be true, but you’ll probably feel better.
.
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Brownie points if you can tell me what movie the title is a quote from.
Dogpaddling Through Life 
That explains a lot…and I will follow that advice… hope the mirror is strong enough for my flu-face :o)
Come on now….. you look good even when you’re sick!
thanks… hahahaha good one and it fits soooo good hahahaha
Hey Jen this has come through on my reader about 5 times..don’t know if you have a bug or not just thought I would let you know 🙂 hugs Fozziemum
I AM having a problem. Not sure what it is but I’m working on it. On my end I can’t get my home page to come up.
33 times it has come up..man you poor thing..doesn’t worry me just did not know if you knew something was up sweets:) bloody WP …grrrr big hugs xx
WHAT???? That is CRAZY!
Interspersed with other blog posts back to last night..some all in a row then a break then more..hope that helps to tell the techs..urghhh that’s alrigth I have FB giving me the disappearing timeline and earlier wp removed my header from my blog..had to go in and put my roos back!!! jerks….they are my roos….must be a solar flare somewhere …xx
Youd think that would at least increase my stats!! LOL
Bwahaaahahaaha you’d think wouldn;t you..they did this with another blog once and the problem is people will just click it as spam..so I hope it gets sorted for you…urghhh techno spuds..
I’ve contacted support but no answer yet. *sigh*
*cue annoying music..or sound of crickets…yikes..I am off to bed my friend..so maybe I can wake to a behaving wp and fb and computer bwahahahahaha….yep a dream…goodluck..pee ess still have not looked at the layer pellet bag ingredients..double yikes!
Rumpy? Are you letting Jen write the posts again? We talked about that, now didn’t we? 🙂
If it’s any consolation, I only go it once.
Good news! Maybe it’s an Aussie thing!
That Sounds like great advice to tell your self a nice thing,xx SPeedy
Rumpy always tells himself he deserves a cookie…. and of course I always agree with him.
Hello Ms. Jen, this is good advice for humans. I already know how good looking I am.
My People have not yet watched Mr. Larry Wilmore’s show because they have been watching tennis every night, but as soon as the Australian Open is over, they will definitely tune in.
Fascinating take on depression. Fortunately, (or not) I’m GREAT at lying to myself!! 🙂
OMG!! So if I look in the mirror and feel depressed by what I see, it means I really do look that bad!
I can’t find it right now but I read some other research that fought back against the “depressed people just see things as they are” thesis. I suspect that when all the research is in we’ll find that both happy people and depressed people have delusions. But the delusion that you’re better than you are will leave you happier in the end.
On the other hand, if even the people conducting the research are deluded, how can they judge the delusions of anyone else? 🙂
I touch up my portraits until they look they way I want to look. Then I can look at them and believe my own lies.
Good for you!!!
Liked reading your post about depression. I didn’t know about the study but don’t totally agree with it. Severe depression has a chemical component in your brain but I liked your lighter take on it. Aren’t we all delusional to some extent?
I like Larry’s show too. I’m someone who’s from a young age “read between the lines” (thanks to my conspiracy theorist Grandpa and his stack of National Enquirer’s lol). The “truth” can be very depressing but also a relief to hear.
Jen, I am looking for a little help which you might be able to offer. Last year you wrote about losing your beloved DeeDee. In October of last year, I unexpectedly lost my beloved Oreo at the age of six. I thought I was going out of my mind for a while. However, I also believed that I would grieve, that it would be hard, and eventually I would come to grips with it. That had been the pattern with previous pets who have passed.
But not this time. It is now three months later, and I am still grieving and becoming depressed (there’s the tie-in with this topic). I cry anytime I think of Oreo. I can’t talk about him without getting choked and/or crying. Normally, I am not a weeping willow, but I seem to have lost my zest for life. I have tried a lot of things that friends have suggested, and they don’t really work. I have tried taking charge of my own energy and telling myself that I choose not to lose myself in my sorrow. Yet I often cry myself to sleep, thus staying up later and later to avoid doing this.
Oreo and I were together 24/7. He was my buddy, my confidante, my healer, and my support. Maybe that was too much for a little dog, and that’s why he died so young. Unfortunately, that thought plunges me into guilt. I can’t even write my blog anymore, although I still have (and cherish) my other two Shih Tzus, Ling Ling and Tilly Tot.
Interestingly, I spent the last 50 years or so working on telling myself the truth and changing the way I deal with things, demanding only the truth from myself about myself. Now, even if it’s beneficial, I can’t seem to lie. Anyhow, do you have any advice or techniques that worked for you? I am anxious to deal with this, but I am unable to lie to myself, especially about the part I may have played in Oreo’s death.
If you are too busy, I do understand. If you have a moment, please write me at sandrakirchman at sasktel dot net. Thanks.
Just to let you know Tilly Tot passed away this morning after surgery.
I am so sorry Sandra!
Interesting post though I must be weird, I’d prefer people tell the truth. They don’t have to be cruel about it but tell it like it is. That or say nothing. 🙂 I think the title name is from Miracle on 34th St. if I’m not mistaken?
You got it!
I often find myself feeling a little down, especially after working , so I try to follow this advice, looking in the mirror and tell myself how good I look. I hope it works! 🙂