MASK OFF

All of us have ways in which we mask and cover up our pain - Iyanla Vanzant

So many times in life, we walk in this world with a mask.

The mask of guilt, defeat, embarrassment, and pain

The mask of being strong and saying you are okay, but in actuality, you are not okay at all.

I made it up my mind that I was not going to mask anything in my life. I implemented systems in my life that helps me take off my mask.

Those systems consist of:

1. Journaling- journaling is a way of me writing off my mask. A write-off is a reduction of the recognized value of something. Journal write-off can be defined as a reduction in the things of life we place value on. Writing things off my heart and onto paper give me space to start over refreshed and rejuvenated.

2. Talk off The Mask- I also developed a group of friends that give me the space to talk without judgment. My friends allow me a safe space to share my most vulnerable feelings and thoughts.

3. Cry off The Mask- As Iyanla Vanzant stated, " every tear waters a blessing." Sometimes the words are not needed, I have learned it is okay to take time to empty myself. I am okay knowing that the tears that I cry today will water the seeds I have sown.

4. Breathe out the Mask- I have recently discovered the relaxation of taking deep breathes. To feel my breath enter and exit my body brings peace and to take it a step further I sometimes add words to my breathing exercises. (I. E Inhale - Peace, Exhale- Chaos) After a few moments of doing breathing exercises, a sense of peace enters my mind, body, spirit, and atmosphere.

Masks allow us to hide, which hiding can be comfortable but hiding is unfulfilling. God did not send Jesus to die on the cross for us to hide. He died so that we can come and come boldly. As Hebrews 4:16 states, let us have confidence, then, and approach God's throne, where there is grace. There we will receive mercy and find grace to help us just when we need it.

When you take off the mask of shame, you trade it in for the mask of honor, you honor God for what he has brought you through and you are not ashamed of it.

When you take off the mask of pain, you trade it in for peace. You are no longer angered by what was meant for evil because God meant it for good.

When you take off the mask of guilt, you trade it in for goodness

When you take off the mask of defeat, you trade it in for success.

There are times when we get so comfortable in hiding behind the mask that we forget that God called us to:

create

cover

carry

crown

Today is the day to take off the mask, no more hiding.

The mask will only diminish the light that God has given us

He is the light. Don't diminish what God has given you because of your inefficiencies.

When we are weak, HE is strong.