The old saying of fake it ‘til you make it is a detriment to healing. We are teaching people to sweep feelings under the rug. This invalidates emotions and stuffs our feelings. Pretending disassociates us from reality. In real time, we must learn to identify the cyclical nature of our behavior and toxic coping mechanism. This is an important step in developing self-awareness and implementation of positive coping skills to navigate ourselves out of these cycles. As we begin to develop an understanding of our self, practice mindfulness, and gain healthy coping skills, we start to lay the foundations to face our inner turmoil and break the cycle that has kept us in pain. 

In order to get this into practice, it’s best to develop a mindset conducive to healing. Seldom do we ever find solutions when we succumb to pessimism. In that frame of mind, we dwell on misfortune, past mistakes, insecurities, and we catastrophize every situation and get caught up in negative “what if” narratives. If you operate in a mindset geared toward what you don’t have, you attract more scarcity. If you operate with an attitude of gratitude and are thankful for all that you have, you will attract abundance. Growing an abundant mindset is simply not focusing on what you DON’T have and beginning to focus on what you DO have. 

Sharpening your coping tools/skills, expressing gratitude, and utilizing the opportunities presented to you to maximize and optimize the beautiful life you already have is imperative to living healthy and happy. We are accountable to how we respond and react to our thought and emotions. When other’s actions come into play, we must remember it’s essential to not allow their actions to dictate our response. After all, when we react to other people, they are then in control of our thoughts and emotions. Depending on the actions we take, we either add value or take away value to situations or self. 

The awesome part of this is that abundance is already within. You have all you need to be successful, happy, and the highest, most authentic version of yourself. You are whole and complete. It’s all about tapping in to your inner most self, sharpening the tools and skills you’ve learned along your journey, and executing this new way of living. 

If we constantly keep faking it to make it, we do ourselves a huge disservice. I challenge you to do this: instead of faking, face your inner turmoil, open up about the challenges you face, acknowledge the negative narratives the mind creates, face your reality, and begin to do the work. Only then can we identify the negative cycles we go through. Once we face it…we can break it.