85% Theory

I came up with this theory (well, my voice teacher over the summer put the idea in my mind) called the 85% Theory. The main point of this theory is that 85% of life is just pretending. I don't mean pretending in a "being someone other than who you are" type of way, but in that there is a definite charade that it put up. For example:

It's your first day at a new job, most of what you do that first day is pretending that you actually know what you are doing.

In a relationship, you're pretending that you know what the relationship needs.

You're about to perform. You're pretending that you are confident and know what it takes to be a performer.

You just had a baby, you're pretending that you know how to be a parent.

Sometimes these pretendings start turning into truth--You actually do know how your job works, or your relationship. You perform enough times that you are slowly gaining more and more confidence. Sometimes pretending doesn't help us at all, but I think that most of the time all of our pretending is what helps us along throughout life. It's not so much a concious effort as it is a survival method, a coping mechanism.

Anyway. That's what I think.