Can I Lie to Myself?

One of the main focal points of this class is the power of lies and how lies can promote happiness in people.  I have been raised thinking that lies are these horrible things that you never want to be around or say.  I have always tried to be very honest to other people and with myself.  I now wonder if it is okay to lie to myself for my own good.  I still do not think it is okay to lie to other people, but does it matter if you lie to yourself?  A lot of the characters we have evaluated in this class lie to give themselves happiness and it seems like it works for them.  My favorite example is O’Brien because he seems the most realistic to me.  He is lying about the death of his friends to make himself happy and I see that happiness in him when I read The Things They Carried. 

I wonder if I could lie to myself to make me happy.  I do not think I could accept those lies no matter how hard I tried.  O’Brien knows he is lying to himself, but he continues to do it because he wants happiness.  O’Brien sees happiness as an end result and the way he achieves happiness does not bother him.  For me I do not think the ends justify the means.  I could not lie to myself just to create my own happiness because I think there are different forms of happiness.  Lying to yourself about happiness is like cheating to me.  You may have the same result, but the way you got the result is very different.  Happiness is not just the end result to me, but the journey to reach that feeling.  Lying is the easy way to find happiness.  I understand why people do it, but I just cannot see myself doing it.  I will do my best to be honest with myself and find happiness that way.