A Course in Miracles Experiment (by Pam Grout) Day 145

By the time we’re in middle school, we’ve had some negative experiences that color our perceptions of the world and the people around us.

We’ve learned that it’s “not okay” to show strong emotions, that it’s not safe anymore to just be ourselves to everyone around us.

We start to construct the mask and costume that we’ll wear the rest of our lives.  And we start coloring in our expectations of others, whether for bad or for good.

What does your mask look like?  Are you the strong, quiet person on the outside, while your heart and stomach twist with each small disappointment?  Are you the life of the party outside, while your true feelings lay tightly locked away where they can’t get hurt?

These constructions are intended to soften the blows from a “cruel world”, but in fact they are an attempt to distance ourselves that just won’t work.

I can put a bandage on a hurt to give it time to heal, but if I keep putting a bandage on that spot to protect it after it’s gotten better, the end result is a spot even more vulnerable than before.

If we keep the mask on all the time, we develop a softer place that’s easier to hurt the next time.  And we miss out on the unscreened, unaltered clarity of the experience.

Instead, embrace the Universe!  Celebrate every thing, whether it seems to be “bad” or “good” at the time!  Gather your courage, take the mask off, and experience the Divine Plan firsthand.  

Yes, there are hurts and some experiences we’d rather do without.  But the bottom line is that EVERYTHING is part of that Plan, and our responsibility is to rejoice in every bit of it.  It gets easier with practice.

Have a truly wonderful day today, taking that mask off!

Photo by Jessica Rockowitz, courtesy of Unsplash
With Grace and Gratitude, 

LeslieAnne