The monarch butterfly forms an elegant cocoon that looks like gold-trimmed jewelry. Inside, the tiny animal is in its least attractive form as it transforms from a pretty striped caterpillar to a lovely butterfly. Just because someone looks good doesn’t mean they aren’t wrestling inside.
What do you do to put on an attractive front when you are struggling?
Well, I think that the major thing that comes to mind is a smile. However, I don’t usually use this with close friends because they probably recognize it as a guise if they know anything about my struggle. However, I find that if I smile even slightly to strangers in the grocery store for instance and they smile back it make me feel better and I hope they share somewhat the same feeling.
There are a lot of topics I simply avoid talking about. When I don’t talk about my symptoms, emotions, and other struggles, people tend to assume I’m doing much better than I actually am. The silence can be damaging; thus, I’m trying to find avenues where it’s safe to address these topics. So far the search hasn’t been very successful.