Truth, the light of life, will never be achieved until you open all the darkness you've allowed yourself to close in. You must confront each issue that you have been cleverly denying or hiding away.

It doesn't matter how nice we make our surroundings appear if we feel ugly inside ourselves. All too often the emphasis is made to improve our surroundings, but the real place to start any improvement is from within.

There are so many levels and so many steps that can be made to improve your own self image and I won't even try to describe them all, however, there are a few basic principles that can give you the power and ability to make real change within yourself and give you power over your true Inner Design.

The hardest and most important step you can ever make is to be honest with yourself. Before you say you are, really think about it. To be truly honest with yourself means that you let yourself see the real source of your motives, fears, desires, shortcomings, failures and dreams.

Truth, the light of life, will never be fully achieved until you open all the darkness you've allowed yourself to close in. You must confront each issue that you have been so cleverly denying or hiding away.

A good example is "You". Earlier today something happened that you disagreed with or didn't like. Think back and note how you felt about the issue or occurrence. Note what your response was, and how you felt afterwards.

Now, step back away from yourself for a moment and see if you can determine why you had the initial feelings. Why were you affected the way you were? What motivated the response you gave? Really and truly, why did you react the way you did?

Learn to find out why you respond the way you do and what motivation is driving your response and you will be on the road to being truthful with yourself. Truth is never easy to find, but it's always there, bright as any star could be. You just need to remove your veils of darkness, denial and distrust so that you can actually find it.

Having cleared your thoughts, you need to determine if your motivation was good or not. I can only suggest that any motivation that is centered around yourself and your own comfort and desires, needs to be looked at very closely. Self centered thoughts or actions are fine, just as long as you acknowledge they are self-centered.

For example, a man attending a charitable function goes up to the podium and, holding his checkbook high in the air, announces that he will donate $5,000 to this good cause. The crowd cheers his generosity as he happily writes the check and drops it in the donation box.

This man performed a noble deed, helping those less fortunate than himself, but what was his true motivation? Recognition. He may have some actual concern about those less fortunate than himself, but his motivation to give was driven by the anticipated high of recognition; the applause and cheers; the miniature stardom; the fame.

If this man tries to convince himself that he made this donation for any other reason, he will be creating another dark veil within himself that protects his soul from the truth; the truth that he really doesn't care about anyone and perhaps that nobody really cares about him; the truth that he needed to "BUY" his love and attention.

Truths like that can be painful and so they are almost always hidden, creating an even uglier shade of black inside. The key is to not let it happen in the first place. Before you act or react, check your motivation. Acknowledge it. You can still do as you please, but know why you are doing it. If you do something for recognition, that's alright. Just don't lie to yourself about it. The only way you can ever hope to remove the darkness inside is to first stop creating more darkness.

Truth is light. Truth sets your course straight and leads the way towards a more pleasant life. Truth is the morning sunrise that fills you with awe and pronounces to the world that the energy of life can begin fresh every day. Every day is completely new, unscarred and ready for you to make the best of it. Forget yesterday. Grab hold of your truths and make each day count.