No matter how disciplined or intelligent you think you are, you are still you — an imperfect human being.

You can’t change that. Can’t escape that.

You will make mistakes. You will make irrational decisions. You will make fun of others to feel good about yourself. And at some point you’d probably get tempted to try unethical/sinful stuff, too.

Guess what, there’s more…

You will soon agree to things you disagree before. You will criticize others for their stupidity and shortcomings (because you think you’re superior). You will get lazy when someone is always helping you. You will get complacent when nobody’s watching.

You will laugh at others’ mistakes. You will complain about the company’s poor service (in fact, about everything). You will get envious of others’ success or material possessions. You will try to compete (and secretly wish you’ll beat all of them).

You will never be content (despite the fact that you know you should). You will always seek happiness outside yourself. You will get angry at someone or things that get in your way. You will want to control every situation, even people.

You will believe and blindly follow someone you think is powerful or godly. You will idolize those who are beautiful and talented and rich (and secretly wish you are their friend). You will want to get famous at some point, seek validation, prove yourself, and anything to feed your selfish ego.

You will try to act as the smartest in the room. You will wish for others to admire you and love you. You will try to impress people whom you think will help you in the future.

You will fail. You will do embarrassing behaviors. You will never want others to know all your dirty little secrets because you’ll afraid what they might think of you. You will try to lie and lie and lie and pretend everything’s OK.

You will do many awful things you never imagine you’d do in your lifetime.

Yes.

That will be You. Me. Us.

That’s our nature. That’s being human.

It’s messy. Disgusting. Frustrating. Disappointing. Embarassing. Sometimes scary.

But we have no other choice but face it, embrace it, and accept it.

What about those self-improvement mentors/gurus? They’re just like us. Flawed. Insecure. Afraid and confused (but they’re trying to help).

And those self-help books? They’re just an attempt to make things better, a suggestion of possibilities (still, trying to help).

But don’t put all your trust in them. They’re not the answer.

No one can escape the unfathomable complexity of human nature.

This is who we are. This is how we operate.

And we just have to accept it as it is.

But here’s the good news: We can always try to be less wrong. To be less stupid. To be less judgmental. To be less harmful. To be less arrogant.

To be less messy.

We have a choice. We can manage it. We can minimize it. We can tame it.

But… it’s a work that doesn’t end. A practice that takes years and years to perfect.

Yes. You finally get it. We are a work in progress.

And will always be.