Hard Truths

Underneath the surface of your skin 
lies truths about yourself 
that you refuse to acknowledge exist. 
Character flaws, irrational fears, 
bad habits, annoyances, troubles letting go, 
many more I can think of 
that make up who you are. 
We all want to be the reliable 
narrators of our own stories 
but we're the worst narrators, 
especially it comes to ourselves. 
We're biased and only want to 
focus on the things that make us look good. 
Instagram profiles and Facebook feeds 
only highlight the best parts of our lives 
because no one wants to share
 what's really happening on 
the other side of the screen. 
Fake smiles are never genuine, 
photographing to get likes 
takes away from your actual life. 
This trend has become an epidemic 
in our society, everyone loves the 
highlight reel and loathes stories 
longer than six words or 280 characters. 
Taking everything we see as we scroll 
on social media with a large 
grain of salt is a good first step. 
Building awareness of your own story 
by acknowledging the truths underneath 
the surface of your skin is the first step 
to changing your own biased of who you are. 
You will never be a reliable narrator, 
but you can be more accepting of who you 
actually are instead of who you want to be.