It begins before we are even old enough to comprehend what we are doing. We force a smile for the sake of our parents. We stop crying though we are still upset to avoid punishment. We pretend to be sweet and innocent when we are really devils…we know how to the play the courtship well. A dance of grace and invisibility…one that requires perfect balance…
“I can’t let them know who I really am,” she said with pain in her voice, “Because they’d be so disappointed if they knew I wasn’t doing as well as they all think I am — if they knew I don’t have it all together.”….It’s the little white lie we keep telling ourselves convinced its the absolute truth.
I tried pulling myself out of the mental hole I’d fallen into; I said I am merely human, just like everyone else, so i wasn’t perfect, just like everyone else. But the topic was closed and my mind had no desire to be thrown anymore ropes. My mind wanted to stay in the hole. Like so many other people, my mind had decided it couldn’t allow anyone to see the scared, broken, hurting person behind the mask. Some would scratch the surface of my mask and claim they knew all there was to know and while they rejoiced at the pretty color beneath; I simply painted on a new layer of color.
We learn at a young age that life is a large and elaborate, 24/7 masquerade ball, and if you’re going to play the game, you have to hide your shortcomings, struggles, pain and imperfections behind a painted smile, just like everyone else does.
Unfortunately, while we watch the endless parade of smiling, confident faces stroll past us, we often forget we’re attending a masquerade ball, and that almost every face is completely hidden from view behind a bucket full of paint. Everyone else appears beautiful and put together, so we desperately cling to our own masks a little tighter, hoping no one will notice the confident, perfect grin we’re showcasing will smear the next time it rains.
It’s the domino affect in action, and it starts with just one person deciding to sport a mask. The people around them then analyzed their own wrinkled and tired faces in the mirror and decide they’re falling short, so they invest in masks, as well. Before long, there isn’t a single person left who even remembers what it’s like to be transparent, honest and real.
So, how do we break the unending cycle? How do we strip away the masks? How do we let others see the real us beneath the facade we’ve created?
The answer seems simple enough…Take down the mask…. right?
Wrong…How long have you been wearing the it? Do you know what lies beneath?
Ever seen “Man In The Iron Mask”….Remeber the part when the mask was finally removed… He fumbled around afraid and even startled by the light that shined upon him…His own reflection was foreign and frightening to him…He had to learn who he was all over again…
That is why its so hard to break the cycle…we fear ourselves and our own reflections… we are afraid of what we will find underneath all those layers of paint we have thrown up over the years…what if we don’t like what we see? More so what if others don’t like it?
So where do we begin to stop the cycle? By scraping away one layer at a time and learning to embrace each piece of ourselves and if we are lucky enough some one will come along the way before the last layer falls and embrace and see the real us hiding in our skin. They will give us the courage to strip away that final layer and reveal all that we are and all that we can be to ourselves and to society…..
We cannot hide who we are from the sight of God..He knows us and has called us by name..We are each one found precious in His sight..and it can be a hard reality to accept..that He would take us as we are..flaws, masks, and all…We cannot hide behind masks with Him…Let this be an encouragement to you to begin letting other and yourself see the real You inside….
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