Many years ago, my therapist at the time gave me some advice. It was during one of my limbo stages with depression. Things weren’t horrible, but they weren’t great either. Slightly depressed but not in one of my worst states. I talked about those times being challenging to get over. She told me that sometimes in life, you have to “fake it until you make it.”
Now before anyone flips. It was not pretending you have no problems. Not as a replacement for long term help. And not a long term solution. But something to do while I was in limbo to hopefully help pull me out.
When people ask how I am, say good. Try to focus only on good things and stay out of my head. Try to put more energy into being positive.
A bit of denial, but not exactly.
I am currently in that stage. Not entirely, I am a lot better than I was even last week, but there is a little faking it. A little “I want to be good so damn it, I am going to say I am until I am.”
It doesn’t always work, she warned me it wouldn’t, that it is only a tool for certain times in my life. Right now, I feel like it is one of those times.
So I am doing a little bit of faking it until I make it and I am slowly moving more towards “making” and less “faking.”