To be honest with yourself is not something that is simple

To expose yourself to uncomfortable realities

that may clash with your engrained views

To allow yourself to be vulnerable to the questions

peeling the layers of biased paint from the walls of your mind

But your mind is flexible, and what I have learned

is that to be honest with yourself is to yearn

For a deeper understanding, one unaffected by a culture's perspective

To spit out the manipulated beverage the world pushes you to swallow

To be honest with yourself is to ask all the questions

To seek all sides of each story

To see the world in a light thats reflective

Do not lie to yourself, you can't force yourself to believe in something

Instead, know that you don't know

and continue to experience life, staying true to yourself.

In being honest with myself I have found

A new sense of security, a new found peace

A new view on life that saves me from strife

A new perspective of my peers that makes me more understanding

Although this honesty does not free me from struggle and pain

It pushes me towards acceptance of any circumstance

It has freed me of a circular train of thought during my darkest times

So always listening to what I know I am feeling

always accepting what I believe and what I am not believing

always realizing that many things are fleeting

I have been mentored by this truth

To live my life founded in genuine