From the song 'It Wasn't Me' by Shaggy:

Open up, man.
What do you want, man?
My girl just caught me.
You let her catch you?
I don't know how I let this happen.
With who?
The girl next door, you know. I don't know what to do.
Say it wasn't you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_x6QmuJdms

"There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn't true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true."
- Søren Kierkegaard

"That which has always been accepted by everyone, everywhere, is almost certain to be false."
- Paul Valery

"History is an account mostly false, of events mostly unimportant, which are brought about by rulers, mostly knaves, and soldiers, mostly fools."
- Ambrose Gwinett Bierce

"The difference between false memories and true ones is the same as for jewels: it is always the false ones that look the most real, the most brilliant."
- Salvador Dali

"The past is what you remember, imagine you remember, convince yourself you remember, or pretend you remember."
- Harold Pinter

"Truth does not need argument, agreement, theories or beliefs. There is only one test for it and that is to ask yourself 'Is the statement true or false in my experience?'"
- Barry Long

#MainMessageForToday
We don't know for sure what will happen in the future, but we like to "pretend" that everything will be okay (also called positive thinking).
We should know for sure what occurred in the past (incidents, thoughts etc.), but sometimes we pretend not to. I am sure you have heard someone deny events by saying "that never happened."

"Your worst enemy could be your best friend,
And your best friend your worse enemy.
Some will eat and drink with you,
Then behind them su-su 'pon you (talk about you).
Only your friend know your secrets,
So only he could reveal it.
...
Some will hate you, pretend they love you now,
Then behind they try to eliminate you."
- From the song 'Who The Cap Fit' by Bob Marley

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOMMWeExwh4

False friends will take advantage of you......

"False friends are like our shadow, keeping close to us while we walk in the sunshine, but leaving us the instant we cross into the shade."
- Christian Nestell Bovee

"Have you ever had friends who just couldn't be there for you when things turned dark? They want to hang out with you during the good times, but the minute things get hard they leave you behind. Often these types of people will wait until they think you're 'over' your hardship, and then call you up wanting to be friends again as if nothing had happened."
- Christian Nestell Bovee

"False friends are worse than bitter enemies."
- Scottish proverb

"An open enemy is better than a false friend"
- Greek proverb

"Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves."
– Jesus (Holy Bible KJV, Matthew 7:15)

"The objective of false prophets and teachers of whatever stripe is...the influence and control of the minds of men."
– Ron Dart

"A thing is not necessarily true because badly uttered, nor false because spoken magnificently."
– Saint Augustine

"What's terrible is to pretend that second-rate is first-rate. To pretend that you don't need love when you do; or you like your work when you know quite well you're capable of better."
- Doris Lessing

"Whenever A annoys or injures B on the pretense of saving or improving X, A is a scoundrel."
– Henry Louis Mencken

"Ambition drove many men to become false; to have one thought locked in the breast, another ready on the tongue."
– Sallust, The War with Catiline

#MainMessageForToday
The reason most people do not like pretenders: they deceive and cause trouble for other people. Pretenders usually have cruel intentions.

Do you think it is okay to pretend to love someone?

"I've been lonely, I've been waiting for you,
I'm pretending and that's all I can do,
The love I'm sending
Ain't making it through to your heart.
You've been hiding, never letting it show,
Always trying to keep it under control..."
- From the song 'What About Love' by Heart
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KE5GGMhmo-M

"We understand how dangerous a mask can be. We all become what we pretend to be."
― Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind

"Be careful what you pretend to be because you are what you pretend to be."
- Kurt Vonnegut

"It's easier to fake it. When you fake it for sixteen years, it becomes part of you, something you don't think about."
- Alex Flinn, Breathing Underwater

Apparently, faking it till you make it works. Your body (language) affects how you think and feel about yourself...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ks-_Mh1QhMc
What a wonderful presentation!

#MainMessageForToday
Faking it has a negative connotation, but it can help you achieve what you set your mind to.

"I'm wide awake,
How did I read the stars so wrong?
I'm wide awake
And now it's clear to me
That everything you see
Ain't always what it seems,
I'm wide awake,
Yeah, I was dreaming for so long."
- From the song 'I'm Wide Awake' by Katy Perry
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0BWlvnBmIE

Do you think Elle was pretending so that she will fit in at Harvard?

Clip from the movie 'Legally Blonde':
https://youtu.be/3SVBRE5PgAM

"We often pretend to fear what we really despise, and more often despise what we really fear.
- Charles Caleb Colton

"It is not good to see people who have been pretending strength all their lives lose it even for a minute."
- Lillian Hellman

"To be a mother you must be strong. Even if you don't feel it, you have to pretend."
- Sade Adu

"There's only one requirement of any of us, and that is to be courageous. Because courage, as you might know, defines all other human behavior. And, I believe - because I've done a little of this myself - pretending to be courageous is just as good as the real thing."
- David Letterman

"You can sometimes get your own feelings across more strongly if you pretend that you're singing it from someone else's angle. But it's always from me. It's just a new way of framing it."
- Chris Martin

"That's what acting is. You're pretending to be someone else."
- Saoirse Ronan

"When I perform on stage, I often pretend to be someone other than myself to bring a certain emotion or intent to a song."
- Cyndi Lauper

All the world is a stage....

"Life is an act—most of it, anyway. Get out there today and pretend you’re in charge, for goodness’ sake. Do you hear me? Lift up your head and pretend.” A flicker of a smile passed over her face. “It’s the secret to everything."
― Kate Alcott, The Dressmaker 

#MainMessageForToday
Actors pretend (act) for a living. Some people pretend to make up for a perceived deficiency such as someone who pretends to be caring because he thinks he is not.

Sometimes people play hide and seek with their true intentions...

"I've been a fool before,
Wouldn't like to get my love caught in the slammin' door
How about some information  please....
Straight up now tell me
Do you really want to love me forever
Or am I caught in a hit and run.
Straight up now tell me
Is it gonna be you and me together or
Are you just having fun?
You are so hard to read,
You play hide and seek
With your true intentions."
- From the song 'Straight Up' by Paula Abdul
https://youtu.be/3AaZSM0ZOy4

"You can't fake creativity, competence, or sexual arousal."
- Doug Coupland

"I don't think that you can fake warmth. You can fake lust, jealousy, anger; those are all quite easy. But actual, genuine warmth? I don't think you can fake it."
- Keira Knightley

"You can't go around hoping that most people have sterling moral characters. The most you can hope for is that people will pretend that they do."
- Fran Lebowitz

One reason for pretenses: IMAGE IS EVERYTHING.
"Branding matters, and that rings true for both companies and individuals. 
The way you present yourself has a profound impact on your career. And it's not just your body language or how you dress, the Internet has presented folks with countless new ways to bolster their personal brand -- or completely ruin it."
- Judith Aquino and Kim Bhasin, 9 Reasons Why Your Image Is Everything
http://www.businessinsider.com/why-your-image-is-everything-12-2011

"I don't like people who are hypocritical, who pretend to be nice, particularly in show business when they're nice on camera, and then off camera they're absolutely appalling to the makeup people, or the waitress in a restaurant, you know? I don't like - I can't bear those kind of people. So I like people who are, you know, up front in your face."
- Simon Cowell

Some terms for pretending something is not happening or is not the case:
- cover up
- turn a blind eye
- ignore
- look the other way
- sweep aside
- gloss over
http://www.macmillandictionary.com/us/thesaurus-category/british/To-pretend-something-is-not-happening-or-is-not-the-case

#MainMessageForToday
Some interesting questions:
Do we all pretend? Are we all hiding something?
Do we pretend primarily because we have something to hide?
Are there some things a person cannot "fake"?

"Now all that's left of me is what I pretend to be..."
- From the song 'Behind These Hazel Eyes' by Kelly Clarkson
https://youtu.be/yipoOY56MbM

"Optimism, n. The doctrine, or belief, that everything is beautiful, including what is ugly, everything good, especially the bad, and everything right that is wrong. It is held with greatest tenacity by those most accustomed to the mischance of falling into adversity, and is most acceptably expounded with disproof - an intellectual disorder, yielding to no treatment but death. It is hereditary, but fortunately not contagious."
― Ambrose Bierce

"Some people have a difficult time facing truth and reality. They prefer to live in a make-believe world, pretending that certain things aren't happening."
- Joyce Meyer

"'I know this is going to end bad, but I'm going to pretend it's going to end good.' My life's philosophy."
- Johnny Knoxville

"I've learned to get really good at this - say one thing when I'm thinking about something else, act like I'm listening when I'm not, pretend to be calm and happy when I'm really freaking out. It's one of the skills you perfect as you get older."
― Lauren Oliver, Delirium

#MainMessageForToday
Emotional intelligence seems to require a person to keep his or her composure in difficult situations and circumstances. In your view, is this pretending everything is okay even if it isn't?
#pretense

Theme for the week 9/20 - 9/26: Pretense, which follows last week's theme Managing Your Emotions.