Why are hard truths so hard to bear?

Answer 1

Probably because truth is always hurtful and difficult to face...people can hardly stand their shortcomings and telling them the truth upsets them..."The truth is hard to bear"...always...

Answer 2

Because they hurt. Because most of us are cowards. People will avoid pain at all costs. Some people will wear blinders or live a lie their whole lives rather than face a harsh truth. No one wants to be hurt. It's a human instinct to protect yourself from pain.

Some people will drink alcohol or take drugs to wrap themselves in an illusion, to escape the reality they can't face, to numb their emotions, to blot out the truth. I don't believe in drinking or taking drugs. I face the trials of life sober. It's not always easy but an authentic life is the only one worth living. I need to know the truth, even if it hurts. I wouldn't want to cling to an illusion. I'd rather know the reality. My honesty & directness puts some people off. They don't know how to take it.

An example of a hard truth: your spouse is cheating. You want to believe your spouse is faithful. You start finding evidence, signs of infidelity (inconsistencies in stories for why they didn't come home the night before, receipts from motels etc etc) but you don't want to believe it so you ignore it. Maybe you don't confront them about it, or if you do & they say nothing is going on (even if something obviously is) you choose to believe them. Because the horrible truth -- that they have betrayed you, that they don't love you enough to honour their commitment to you -- is unbearable.

I knew a girl whose hubby was a cheater & she chose to stay with him. I couldn't do it. The more I love someone the more I would hate them if they betrayed me. As much as it would hurt I would want to know the truth & then kick the ****** out of my life.

Answer 3

Hard truths are so hard to bear because they often contain a reality we do not wish to face:

Examples:
A person who is told he or she has only months to live.
Someone learns that the person whom they love no longer loves them.

Answer 4

Because hard truths deal with matters dear to us. For example, knowing about your real parents is a hard truth because we don't initially want to accept it. We want things the way we got used to and a new hard truth is so hard to adjust to. It also deals with the vulnerable part of our hearts.

Answer 5

I'll take an anthropological approach to that question...

I think that most of us are first influenced by the altruistic maternal instincts of our mothers, who's internal nature is to nurture and protect us from the abrasive environment while we are young and vulnerable.

That, being our first influence in life, makes us inclined to take a more niave view of reality until we are exposed to it bit by bit. In more advanced civilisations as we are now living in, many of us are sheltered more from the harsh realities while others, depending upon caste, are exposed and learned earlier in life.

But you add to that the human dynamic of superconscious and culture, which is an elaboration of primative tribalism, and you will find a social fantasy that is maintained and regulated by all those who want this fantasy to be the gospel of reality.
This fantasy consists of the romaticisms of an ideal persona, look, political preference, and interpretations of respective god(s). People are driven to defend these notions, even when exposed or proven false, to the death.

In the core of their subconscious, people want these ideals to be the immediate reality, something within reach. To face the fact that this may not be the case is cause for an identity meltdown.

Answer 6

Because by our very nature we tend to avoid what makes us uncomfortable and hard truths do make us uncomfortable. Confronting hard truths also requires effort and again, by our very nature, we tend to lean towards that which is easy - even when it's not in our best interests to do so.

Hard truths also require that we make changes, change is in effect stepping into the unknown. It is far easier to stay where we are than it is to venture into the unknown.

Answer 7

The truth is supposed to set you free. So if there is a "truth" that is hard to bear it's not really a truth at all. It's either a lie or it's misunderstood.

Answer 8

It is well-known that a beautiful lie is preferable to a hard truth. The reason is that there are ego's, frustrations, complexes that only feed themselves with lies. The only problem is that most of us lie to ourselves that we would rather hear something negative about us than something positive, but untrue. Whenever it comes to failure, mistakes, a bad image, people find it disappointing to have these things told to their face. It is a matter of weakness, which is rarely acknowledged.

Answer 9

Hard truths are hard to bear because they are harsh.. because they reflect us in the true light, which more often than not is unpalatable to us.... because they remove the hypocrisy cover we put on to hide all our inherent shortcomings and meanness.

Good question... indirectly telling how inadequate and hypocritical all of us are.

Answer 10

truth is bitter. it's not hard . we have to face the truth boldly. no point in floating in a shallow space. probe into facts till you find out the truth. though it's hard to bear, learn to live with it.