On cheating yourself

When I was 6 or 7 years of age, I attempted a puzzle in a paper. I do not remember what the paper was, a Weekly Reader or the local paper or maybe the Reader's Digest, but whatever it was the puzzle eluded me. I just couldn't figure it out. I worked on it for some time, maybe as much as a hour (though at 6 10 minutes equal and hour so...) and finally looked at the answer. I then went to my mother and showed her that I had 'figured' it out. She knew immediately that I had not done the work myself, but her only response was, "Think how much more you would enjoy it if you had found the answer on your own."
I think of that often. This month's Reader's Digest contains the following quote by Phillip James Bailey, "The first and worst of all faults is to cheat one's self. All sin is easy after that." It has me thinking. 'All sin is easy after that'....and isn't that what most rationalization is? Lying to ourselves and allowing us to sin?
I looked up Mr. Bailey. It turns out he was a poet from the 19th century. His only famous work was an epic poem, Festus, where he attempted to explain God's relationship to man and man's relationship to God. It was written when he was 23 and though he live another 67 years, this was his only lasting monument. It seems sad to have peaked at 23.
But back to the original thought. How often do we self-delude ourselves? I, for one, confess that the weight on my driver's license hasn't been close to right for 20 years! And I have not felt the compunction to correct it when they ask at renewal time.
I have a year till the next renewal, I can either lose that weight or tell the truth. Wonder which will be harder?