What does your mask look like?

As Halloween approaches, I was just thinking about about what it is that people might fear the most.  A few things sprung to mind, things like spiders, flying, thunderstorms and heights. But one thing struck me as something that people may be afraid of but not realise it. Themselves.

I would say on varying levels a lot of us are facing this fear; afraid of being seen by others. In order to prevent our inner self from being seen, we might hide it by wearing a metaphorical mask when we are with others. But the mask we wear hides not only the things we think are bad, but also the beauty of who we truly are.

What would your mask look like? Would it be a true representation of who you are? What would it show the world? If you took it off, what would be exposed?

As we grow up, we are constantly being fed opinions and attitudes from other people. Some of the negative ones stick, so we might start to create a mask for ourselves, or try on different masks, in order to protect ourselves and survive. We don't want to be seen as any of the negative things that people have said about us in the past or that we think of ourselves now, such as 'failure', 'stupid', 'soft' to name just a few.

When you wear this mask, it becomes more and more uncomfortable as time goes on, but more and more difficult to remove, because people who know you only know you when you are wearing the mask.

It is important to recognise when you get older that wearing your mask brings limitations, and you may not feel as though you are living your life as the real you. You might feel trapped behind the facade and wish you could just 'be yourself'. It would be so much easier.

The fact is, it can be easier. You can remove the mask. You can acknowledge the fact that the mask you once needed to survive in the world is something you no longer need now. Why waste the rest of your life pretending to be someone you're not?  Live the life you want to live, not the life that other people expect you to live. Others live their lives being their true selves, and it doesn't matter to them what you think of them. Why should it matter to you what they think of you. 

Counselling can help you explore what's underneath the mask before braving it out in the real world. Discover the 'real you' is and accept yourself for who you are!