True courage vs bravado:
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“Welcome to the dark side, in here you can hide from almost anything, except from the things that you yourself bring.”
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Bravado is when a person commits an antisocial, criminal or wrongful action that attempts to hide or distract others (or them self) from admitting unwanted truths about his or her true self.
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Never the less, although they lack the essential (and realistic) ingredient of moral courage - that of self-honesty - acts of bravado can make a person (bless his or her pounding heart) feel that s/he is being brave.
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Unfortunately, using this type of placebo bravery can become a go-to response to any sort of situation that triggers emotional discomfort; such as fear, humiliation, anger or feelings of inadequacy about them self or Life.
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However, the greatest danger in using bravado comes not from other people seeing through the lies of your bravado, but from your true-self identity trying to sabotage any plans and actions of your bravado self.
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Such persistent moral infighting has the inevitable result of playing havoc with your self-identity and self-control - which are not only essential in general life, but also in the practical and emotional processes of committing any crime or wrongdoing.
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This inevitable havoc, is why our prisons are filled up and fed up with outrageous cases of mistaken self-identity by inmates who are left with their own bravado as a cell-mate.
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The best answer to this dilemma is to be honest:
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Although it takes far more courage than bravado; one of the primary things to accept is that honesty with oneself and with others, is a friend and not something to be overly feared … it’s true … honestly!
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However, just as a friend’s grip may hurt as it prevents you from falling, or a medical sticky plaster may hurt when it is removed; honesty can also hurt … after… the lies have already caused the injury.
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Honesty can also prevent falls from grace, conflict and serious damage to your friendships with others, and with your true-self from happening in the first place.
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Honesty is also great when it comes to reclaiming lost, stolen or damaged Life-Qualities.
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