If you are seeking true happiness, you have got to be scared of falling into the trap of a fake life. There are a lot of fake lives around us- people pretending to be successful, when there is no substance inside. Materialism creates a fake world, where people are showing off to impress others, who are showing off to impress them.

What is a fake life?

1. A life lived to impress the unknown others

We are so scared of other people. Other people, we don’t even know. So many of us care about the faceless world, and fear what that faceless world’s reaction would be, if you decide to be our real self.

That faceless world is the society out there. Do we really need to care about others, who have no real impact or influence our lives?

It’s a fake life that lived to impress people we don’t even know.

2. The materialistic life is fake

The materialistic life is a fake life. I have written about the curse of materialism earlier and it means that mindless pursuit of money for the sake of money leads to superficiality in everything.

There are people who would buy things, and talk about the things they have bought. They have no substance beyond materialistic things, since they have only done things for the purpose of money.

3. An inauthentic life is a fake life

Those who say “fake it till you make it” are idiots. Why do you want to fake something that you don’t authentically have? Let’s say that you don’t have confidence to stand up on a stage and give a talk.

What would you rather do?

Would you rather practice standing for stage a few times to prep for the actual speech, or would you fake it till the day? If you fake it, there is no way you would be able to deliver a good speech, that has an impact on the audience.

Rather, if you are real, and tell them, that it’s the first time you are delivering a speech, they would warm up to you, and cheer you along.

4. Being dishonest with yourself creates a fake life

If you are not honest with yourself, you are living a fake life. One of the key pre-requisites to lead an authentic life is to be honest with yourself. If you are not being honest and lying to yourself about the state of health, or the state of your peace, or happiness, you are living a fake life.

The lies that we say to others do not harm us as much as the lies we say to ourselves.

When we lie to ourselves, we have now way out to come clean. If you tell yourself that you are unhappy, you have an opportunity to work on the things that make you unhappy. However, if you lie to yourself about the state of your life, there is no way to fix anything because you are not admitting that there is something to fix in the first place.

It’s a fake life.

5. Doing work that gives no pleasure and pretending you like it

Work takes a large proportion of our lives. If the work that you do gives you 0 pleasure, and you have a disconnect with it, you are living the classic fake life.

I remember in the beginning of my work career, I lied massively, just to get a job. I had no interest in the job, and was interviewing because I needed the money. Thankfully, the interviewer caught my lies and didn’t select me.

Had I been selected; I would have been miserable at that job and pretend to like it every day. It is an awful feeling. When we try to pretend to like stuff that we inherently don’t, we live a fake life.

6. Pretending to love, when there is no love

Love is the most genuine of all feelings and human emotions. Either we feel love for people, or we don’t. If you are stuck in a relationship where there is no love, or meaning, you are living a fake life, because it’s a fake relationship. Let me rephrase that. A relationship where there is no love actually has no meaning and it’s fake.

You can’t fake love. It is either there, or it isn’t.

If you try to fake love, you create a meaningless and fake life.

7. When you are not being yourself, every moment is fake

Being yourself should be one of your biggest priorities, no matter what you do. The world will try to change you, because people like people who behave like themselves. When you try to forge an original route for your time, the world won’t appreciate you. You will find a lot of critics, and people telling you why you won’t succeed, or why you have chosen a wrong way.

If you let them win, you will end up living the fake life, just like a lot of people do.

Authenticity takes courage, and courage is the mother of all virtues.

8. Pretense of any kind

According to the dictionary, presence is a false show of something. Now, anything that you pretend to be, or have, is fake. Simply, because it’s not true.

You pretend to lead a rich life, when you are actually middle class.

Buying stuff you can’t afford creates a fake life.

You spend time with people you don’t like, because it improves your social standing.

Attending meetings to prove that you are working create a fake life.

You see, every time, you see yourself pretending to do something, you are being fake, and every time you are fake, it makes you an unhappier person, whether you realize it or not.

9. When you have to smile, when you don’t want to, you are living a fake moment

We have all heard of plastic smiles and seen too many. People smile a plastic smile and it shows. Everyone knows when they see a plastic smile. What a tragedy of a world where something as beautiful as a smile, has become unreal and fake!

When you smile, when you don’t want to, you are living in a fake world with fake people who appreciate plastic smiles.

….

But why do we need to pretend and live a fake life?

Hey, just look at a big chunk of the society. It is fake. People are living loud lives to impress other people who are living loud lives. It’s all pointless. Just because the majority does something, seemingly makes it right for the rest of the people to follow the herd.

So, most people end up following the majority because standing out and leading an authentic life true to yourself takes persistence and courage. Courage is a rare virtue. Not many people even aspire to lead courageous lives because it is hard.

To live with courage, is to live with an ability to risk your reputation or even life for what you believe in.

So, there we are. An authentic and meaningful life is hard. You need to built an individual identity which doesn’t necessarily conform to the virtue of the crowds. So, most people end up living a fake life, which is comfortable to them and find solace in the comfort of each other.

….

How to avoid the trap of a fake life?

If something doesn’t feel right to you, don’t do it. Question everything and ask yourself, if you would want to do it. Stop following the herd.

Mark Twain famously said:

“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.”

The more I have thought about this quote, the more I have found it to be true. However, if you choose to not be on the side of the majority, you would have to live a life true to your self-awareness and belief system.

This takes time and reflection. However, if you manage to do it, you will avoid the trap of the fake life.

In Conclusion

You don’t want to live a fake life. Rather, you want to be true to yourself and live an authentic life. In order to do that pursue absolute honesty with yourself, every time you fear that you are pretending a feeling that you don’t feel, take a step back, and ask yourself, “is it really worth it?”

Why do I write this blog?

The purpose of this blog is to help you find your happiness. Please read the other posts on the blog, and follow so that you get updates when new posts are published. Please share the post with your friends so that they can also find their happiness. If you have any feedback for me, please leave it in the comments and I would be happy to work on it. If you would like to support my writing and this blog, you may please send a donation through PayPal here.

I appreciate the time you spent in reading the blog and wish you happiness.

Love,

Amarvani

If you enjoyed this post, maybe you would like to read this one as well:

How to live in the NOW, for “now” is all we have