While people generally like to think they are in touch with reality, the uncomfortable truth is that many shield themselves from certain unpleasant facts to make them happier and more productive.

From unpleasant insights about Love to the truth about meritocracy, there are inumerous uncomfortable truths people do not like to admit.

It is nice to believe in karmic justice where good things happen to good people, but looks matter and good things tend to happen to good-looking people.

We keep denying it all the time, but an attractive person has an upper hand over a not-so-attractive person most of the time.

Attractive people make more money and are seen as smarter and more trustworthy than people who are not. This is a bitter truth.

We are all self-centric; it is just the radius that varies. The only difference between selfish and unselfish people is how intensely they pursue their self-interest. Even our most intimate relationships are created to serve our own needs. There is some self-interest behind every friendship. There is no friendship without self-interests.

This is a bitter truth.

No matter how ahead you think yourself to be, there are thousands like you walking the planet. You really think that you are the only one who has those odd fetishes or you are the only one awake at that particular hour of the night.

There are hundreds, perhaps thousands who are exactly like you. And there are millions who would satisfy your criteria of Ms. Right and Mr. Perfect.It is just coincidence that you found one of them and were acquainted to him or her and now.

This is a bitter truth.

It is drilled into our heads that we have to speak with certainty and confidence about things. But the truth is that we do not know. Even successful people who seem to have everything under control do not know. The people you look up to are just as nervous as you are.

Succeeding gets easier when you realize that everyone who has ever succeeded has doubted that things will work, has failed terribly, and has generally been where the rest was: worrying and certain they are not good enough.

This is a bitter truth.

Most successes happen in small steps and take a long time. Many people search constantly for a quick fix to turn their lives around, the truth is that the hard work you put in today will only begin to pay off in months, if not in years, if at all.

Hard work does not guarantee future returns. There are so many confounding variables in the equation, that often the most successful people have been incredibly lucky in ways that you can only really see when you look back on their lives.

This is a bitter truth.

While it is certainly worth trying to make things better, no individual’s work will put a real dent in the pain and suffering people experience around the world.

Somewhere at this very point in time, someone is being tortured, hostages are being held captive, someone is being raped, girls are being punished for studying, and maybe, just maybe, the homeless guy and his little kid you pass every day has not had lunch for days.

This is a bitter truth.