The Bitter Pill of Truth: Why We Spit It Out



 "Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth." – Buddha

Let’s be honest—truth hurts. It’s not a gentle visitor; it doesn’t knock politely. It storms in. Kicks the damn door open. Rips the curtains. Shows us what we’ve been hiding from ourselves. And yet, somewhere deep down, we know we need it.

But still—we avoid it. We run. We call it names. We sugarcoat it till it’s unrecognizable. Why?

    The thing is that truth messes with our comfort. And our egos? They don’t like being messed with.

    Ever heard of cognitive dissonance? It’s that itchy feeling in your gut when reality doesn’t match your beliefs or self-image. Leon Festinger put it into words years ago. When our beliefs clash with facts, our mind does a quick shuffle—denial, excuses, diversions—anything but sit with the discomfort.

    And let’s not forget confirmation bias. We go hunting for what already agrees with us. We scroll, swipe, like, and repost what fits. Anything else? We scroll past. Easy.

“You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you mad.” – Aldous Huxley

He wasn’t kidding.

The Gita Doesn’t Sugarcoat It Either

    Take the Bhagavad Gita. Arjuna is literally frozen in battle—not because he’s a coward, but because he sees the truth of what’s ahead. He has to fight his own people. Krishna doesn’t give him a hug and say “there, there.” Nope. Krishna drops truth like thunder.

“The soul is neither born, and nor does it die...” (Gita 2.20)

My translation? Get over the illusions. Act according to your rights. Truth is messy, but necessary.

The Ugly face of Truth

Let me tell you a real story. This is the story that motivated me to write this blog as well more than my own truths.

    There was a woman working in IT. Smart, grounded, honest. But she wasn’t a yes-person. She had a colleague who was—you guessed it—always nodding, always flattering the boss. The yes-person got promotions, praise, even credit for work she didn’t do.

    One day, the boss wanted to launch a new project. The honest woman raised a red flag—a serious risk of a data leak. The boss didn’t like it. He preferred applause, not concern.

    Fast forward: the project launches. Boom. Data gets stolen. Guess who vanished? The yes-person—sold the data to a competitor and disappeared.

    But here's the twist—the sidelined woman had quietly backed up everything. She saved the company. The one who spoke the bitter truth had the solution all along.

See what I mean? Truth isn’t the problem. People’s inability to accept it is.

"In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act." – George Orwell

The Toughest Truths Are the Ones We Tell Ourselves

It’s one thing to call out someone else. It’s another to look in the mirror and admit our own flaws. That’s where the real struggle begins.

Carl Jung nailed it:

“People will do anything, no matter how absurd, to avoid facing their own souls.”

But when we do sit with those truths—when we stop running and start listening—that’s where the healing begins. That’s when transformation kicks in.

I’ve Been There Too

If you’ve ever spoken the truth and paid the price for it—you’re not alone. I’ve been there. I’ve seen how people twist honesty into arrogance, how sincerity is labeled intensity. It hurts.

And the worst part? Most people never even ask for your truth. They build stories around you, fill in the blanks with their fears or judgments, and decide that version is the truth.

But I still choose truth. Every single time. Not because it’s easy. But because it’s real. And because I’ve learned: the people who mind never mattered, and the people who matter will eventually understand.

There was a time when I used to have big plans and always used to believe in what I thought was right. But the bitter pill of truth hit me- hit me hard when I went through the darkest days. The days of sleepless nights and that is when I realized how much I was hiding from the realm of truth. Now, open enlightened, detached and understanding myself, what better ways to know nothing in this world matters when you know your own truth. 

It's always better to live your life with imperfections than living someone else's life. 

Swallow That Bitter Pill

So yeah, truth is bitter. But so is medicine. You don’t love it—but you take it. Because it heals.

Let it sting. Let it shake you. But don’t run from it.

Because once the tears dry, the freedom that follows... it’s worth it. It is when you realize this that you really accept the reality and detach yourself from achievements, stop making yourself understood and where the grief is replaced by our work and peace, no matter what the result. 

"Karmanyevadhikaraste Ma Phaleshu Kadachana,
Ma Karma Phala Hetur Bhur Ma Te Sangostva Akarmani."
(Bhagavad Gita 2.47) (My one of the favorite quote from Gita)

which translates to:
You have a right to perform your prescribed duties, but you are not entitled to the fruits of your actions. Never consider yourself the cause of the results of your activities, nor be attached to inaction.

“Verily, in the beginning, truth alone was there.” – Chandogya Upanishad

SSP 

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