No Pain, No Gain

From credit card debt, to health problems, to loneliness in social settings, the answer is one and the same...we need to "Get Real". Many of us are living in an artificial and imaginary world of our own making without even realizing it. Some of us have opened our eyes to some aspects of "Reality" that has brought about a certain amount of change already. But, I think there is always room for improvement when seeking to become a more honest and genuine person. If we would do this in every area of our lives we would be happier, healthier and simply better people. It's one thing to talk about it, but totally different when you actually turn around and do it. I believe life is similar to an onion, both with layers that are able to be peeled away. Come to think of it, peeling back the layers in your life or of an onion brings a few tears to the eyes. It may require peeling back hardened layers of pretense in order to honestly see the state our lives are in. Each layer I've been able to remove in my life hasn't exactly been pain-free, but it has been liberating to say the least. I guess my Grandma was right when she said, "No pain, no gain".