Let’s Tear it Down

You said you knew but you didn’t.  You said you would, but you wouldn’t.  You said you could, but you couldn’t.    What is it that causes us to pretend we know what we don’t?  What is it that makes say we will, when we know we won’t?  What is it that causes us to say we can, when we can’t?  In each of these cases, we speak to give a certain image or perception of ourselves to another person, or even to ourselves.  When we maintain, or present, an image of ourselves that is based on lies, which is what happens anytime we boast of what is not true, we will not do, and we do not know.  Sometimes we present a false face for so long that we do even know the person behind the mask we wear.  Masks may not wrinkle, but over time, they can harden and be shattered like glass.  The more I come out of hiding behind the many masks I have worn, the more I realize that true freedom comes when I discipline myself to know the things that are hidden behind the image that I feel the need to show to others.

There is a certain amount of embarrassment that you must face when you begin to learn the truth about the internal reasons you have done certain things in your life and about the things that you hide from others now.  Most of us can probably say that there are times we have said to ourselves, “I am too embarrassed to say I don’t know,” “why did I say that I will call them, when I know I won’t,” “I’m in trouble now, I told them I couldn’t do this but it is impossible given.…”  A healthy sense of self-respect and value is based in knowing, living, and telling the truth about yourself.  Whenever you say that you don’t know what you don’t know, you cease being a know-it-all, and become open to learning something new, perhaps even from the person you may be speaking to at the time.  Whenever you know that you will not do something, or you need to have time to think about it, it takes courage to say so, and mean it, even under the pressure of criticism.  Whenever you say that you cannot do, what you know you cannot do, if it needs to get done, help is on the way.

To overcome these character flaws, we must discipline ourselves to tear down every false image of ourselves that we have presented to others, and to ourselves in the mirror.  Our false pride will begin to crumble, and our true selves will be seen by others, and we will feel more at home in our own skin.

Humility is the tearing down of false images of ourselves. When we are disciplined for success in being our truest self, others will find it easier to do the same.