Rationalization is the process of not perceiving reality; instead bending it to fit one’s desires.
Pulitzer and Nobel Prize winning author William Faulkner once wrote, “Ingenuity was apparently given man in order that he may supply himself in crises with shapes and sounds with which to guard himself from truth.” That’s flowery language, but recovering sex addicts nearly always get the point, because we’re very, very good at avoiding the truth. To justify our sexually addictive behaviors, we tell ourselves (and convince ourselves to believe) all sorts of crazy lies.
Just for Today: Pay attention to your behaviors (all of them) and the rationalizations behind them.