Masks

With Halloween around the corner, I've had masks on my mind. I've always loved a fun costume with a good mask.

As a child, masks were all about dressing up, having fun and, truth be told, maybe scaring a few people now and again.

As an adult, I've learned the masks we wear don't necessarily go away and they certainly change form, but learning to shed them is an important skill to master as it leads of growth.

We all wear many masks for different reasons. We wear one mask with our family. Another with our coworkers. And yet another with our partner. And on and on.

Regardless of the specific reason, the prevailing objective in donning a mask is that we feel it offers protection from discomfort, vulnerability, fear, or fill-in-the-blank. We've grown comfortable in the seeming security our masks provide.

However, there are significant benefits to letting our masks down. Here are three of them.

1. Shedding our masks allows us to live up to our fullest potential. By hiding our truest self we leave a part of us on the sidelines out of the game.
2. Shedding our masks provides relief. Hiding behind a mask and living an inauthentic life is draining. Running from our authentic self is a losing battle. It will always catch up with us.
3. Shedding our masks supports healing. When a part of us is hidden behind a mask, it is difficult to heal relationship issues both professional as well as personal because an important part of us is unavailable.

Letting down our masks can make us feel vulnerable, but it's in the vulnerable moments that growth occurs. So, as Oscar Wilde said, "Be yourself; everyone else is taken."