Truth, lies, and the pursuit of happiness

Tweet

What do you feel about the general attitude of "fake it to you make it" as a way to manuever through the many inevitable challenges life presents, as well as generating a legitimate joyful spirit? There are some who say that one's "thoughts and feelings" actually render a similar reality. For example, if you struggle with a negative self image, the idea is that you will only being to combat the issue by forcing yourself to turn around your thoughts into positive ones. Yes, you actually tell yourself you are beautiful when you really feel the opposite. Likewise, if someone has hurt you emotionally, in this model, recovery is only possible through a sincere offering of gratitude for the pain because of the lessons learned through it. If you acknowledge your broken heart for what it is--broken, then you are (supposedly) only contributing to (and even beckoning) more pain. What about living an "authentic" life, by which I mean that one calls things as they are? Isn't there any truth to dealing with the, well, truth? Any thoughts?