Beneath the Mask

This subject fascinates me.

You know how we all choose to wear the mask that we think the world will approve of most. It's actually the side we approve of most and choose to show the world.

I believe that we were all created with two equal sides: the light, happy, loving, fun side and the dark, angry, fearful, sad side. Imagine the world with the one side that's facing the sun all bright and shiny and the side that's away from the sun in complete darkness. That's how I visualise us.

Our conditioning has taught us that the sunny, happy side is good and the dark side is evil. I would challenge this as I believe that we have been created with perfect balance. We are a complete complement of all the emotions possible so that we are fully able to experience a life of balance and integrity.

Imagine never having felt sad. We would never know what it is to feel happy. Until we have suffered, we have no compassion for those who have and are suffering. How do we know how we like to be treated until we are treated in a way we don't like.

We can't have the good without the bad or the desert without the dinner. It's the balance that we require.
So I challenge you to really think about this.

The next time you are sad and feel like reaching for a happy pill, embrace the moment and relish being with yourself in your feelings. Listen to yourself for the wisdom in the lesson. Learn from the space and from the emotions that are resonating with you. Life is the greatest teacher if we'd just take the time to listen and learn.

We need to visit our so called 'dark' side in order to understand ourselves better and to completely love ourselves. We cannot be one dimensional. We would be off axis. Imagine the world trying to spin if it only had one side.

I believe that it is only when we make peace with our two sides and give them both space to express themselves, that we are truly living.

Have you noticed how easily we can swing from being madly in love with someone to being completely enraged by the same person. Perhaps you even wonder sometimes, like I do,whether you have lost your marbles. 'How is it possible to love one minute and hate the next?'

It is perfectly possible and normal. We are just conditioned to think that it is not normal and that we should not express ourselves. We are conditioned to think that we are out of control and behaving badly when we feel anything that falls on the dark side.

So let's begin by loving our sad selves as well as our happy selves.
Let's love our angry selves and our happy selves.
What about loving our jealous selves as well as our loving selves.
Let's love our fat selves and our skinny selves.

You see, we are all of these.

Perhaps we should take a look at why we become angered by some people. Observe the next time you are in the company of someone who rubs you up the wrong way and look for that irritating trait in yourself. You will find it!

The very traits that we hate in ourselves, are the ones we observe in others and become angered by. You see like repels like and opposites attract.

That's why we seek someone who is so different to ourselves as a partner. They complement and balance us.

So in order for us to start loving others unconditionally, we have to first stop judging ourselves as bad, aggressive, jealous or fearful. We need to embrace all of our qualities as worthy and part of who we are.

Let's love ourselves whether we are in autumn, summer, winter or spring. We are not just the season that we are experiencing, we are all the seasons. And just as spring will follow the winter, so will our happiness return after a season of sadness and depression.

So I encourage you, no matter what season you find yourself in, love youself.

Tell yourself:

I love sad me and happy me
I love dark me and sunshiny me
I love fearful me and brave me
I love poor me and powerful me
I love angry me and loving me
I JUST LOVE ME!

Until next week, roll over and embrace the you beneath the mask

love
Nicolette