‘𝗕𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳; 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗲𝗹𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗻.’

In a world where we are told that we can be anything we want to be, we cannot be anyone that we want to be. You can be a writer, an artist or an astronaut but you have no choice but to be yourself. Maybe I should say that this is the only wise choice. You cannot pretend to be someone or something that you are not, plenty of people try but they ultimately fail. If you do succeed, you certainly won’t be happy

I have come across a fair few people making their way through life by pretending. Maybe it is easier to convince ourselves that we feel good about something or someone rather than admit that we do not. Contentment doesn’t require action so by convincing ourselves that we are happy even when we are not, we may be able to avoid making those difficult decisions. We don’t have to tell our partner that we aren’t in love with them anymore or that we aren’t happy in our relationship. We don’t have to swallow our pride and ask for help when we need it because, hey, everything is just fine! We can simply smile and keep pretending. Pretending everything is fine means not having to contend with all the fears and the potential of disapproval from loved ones if we leave it behind. Pretending is costly because we may be giving away our peace of mind and happiness.