What is RATIONALIZATION ?

RATIONALIZATION IS A TRICK OF THE MIND to deceive not only others but yourself too. 

Rationalization is not true reasoning; it is a strategy, a pretension. It pretends to be rational but it is not.

From a diary of an Italian girl on a Caribbean cruise:

Monday — was invited to dine at the Captain’s table.

Tuesday — spent the day with the Captain.

Wednesday — Captain made ungentlemanly proposals to me.

Thursday — Captain said he would sink the ship if I did not agree to his proposals.

Friday — saved five hundred lives.

This is rationalization. Man is very cunning; man’s cunningness is unlimited. And people go on doing things in the name of reason.  

One can do anything if one has a cunning and clever mind to rationalize it. 

You can hide the fact in religious terminology, you can go on doing something with a mask, and people wear masks: rationalization is one of the ways of wearing masks. 

But it is good to understand what it is, and if you indulge in it, it is better not to indulge in it. It is a camouflage. It is better to be authentic, true, rather than hiding yourself behind smoke screens.

Be true. Be authentic. There is no need to be untrue, because the more untrue you become, the farther and farther you will be from God.

If you rationalize, your being farther and farther away from God. If you indulge in strategies like rationalization, you will never come closer to your own inner self where God resides. Drop all false faces so that you can find your original face. And to find the original face is the greatest blessing and the greatest benediction in life.