Covering pain with a façade and engaging in phony happiness derive from several fundamental causes. They derive from a lack of trust—in others,
self, or God. In others because we fear rejection, in self
because we fear our own lack of capacity and in God for we focus on the
short-term and neglect the eternal and the service of larger and higher purposes. Hence, anxiety is created in which we strive
to hide from ourselves and others. Our
angst is typified by a state of denial. Manifestations
of this anxiety and denial include substance abuse, focus on status, flights to escapism, indulgences
in affectation, denial of our
mortality, feigned indifference, insincerity, yielding to addictions and obsessions. Happiness—true happiness—remains a
fundamental indicator of mental, emotional, and spiritual health.
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