re: "Act as if", IMO the "as if" is to get your brain over the mental hurdle that it doesn't believe it yet. The key word in the sentence is act ie. take action.
"Act as if you're happy" doesn't mean "plaster a big fake smile on your face as you sit in your room and mope" - it means "take the actions that a happy person does" eg. go out with a bunch of friends to see a movie.
It's a great big cycle - if you're unhappy you do unhappy things which reinforces the unhappy. By doing something else, you break that cycle.
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When people see things as beautiful, ugliness is created.
When people see things as good, evil is created.
When the way is forgotten, 'morality' and 'piety' need to be taught.
-Dao De Jing, Chapter 2
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