I was inspired by a recent post called “A month of no Hiding*” a few days ago. The focus of this thought provoking blog post was about hiding behind technology and thus inhibiting learning change.
The bigger picture
This has got me wondering about the bigger picture of hiding. There are so many things and people to hide from, behind, with or inside.
We also hide from, behind and within . . .
- weight, deteriorating health, fitness, unresolved traumas, habits that no longer serve us,
- our comfort zone we stay within and that we are too scared to step outside of
- prioritising unimportant things over our dreams, or in other words procrastinating,
- the writing on the wall before a major upheaval change that leaves us unprepared, or
And there are many more things that we are blinkered against and hide from ourselves.
Lots of people hide behind a mask of pretend OK-ness or happiness, constantly living with anxiety tension or nervous butterflies in their stomach fuelled by the fear of being found out to be a fraud. All those plausible sounding excuses are another great thing we hide behind or under; all those logical reasons why we cannot be who we dream about being or why we can’t take action.
Hiding costs Energy
Hiding costs a lot of energy. It can be extremely tiring especially if we are trying to hide emotions, habits, perceived inadequacies or anything deeply ingrained. We have to constantly watch what we say and how we act trying to avoid accidentally leaking what we are trying to hide.
Hiding can cost us the dearly desired success or those dreams that we secretly hold onto. This change that we may fear to acknowledge and embark on may be exactly what will take to to our dreams. Because we are hiding all those amazing opportunities we wish we had cannot find us. Or we simply overlook them as we are so focused on hiding. All our energy is inward focused on hiding rather than outward focused on picking up opportunities.
We miss out on learning, growth, fun, experiences, wealth and so many other things.
Hiding has its own Energy
Our bodies hold the energy of hiding. No matter what we do, the fact that we are in hiding mode will become apparent in how we stand, how we sit, how we move and how we express ourselves. Our voice will sound and resonate with the energy of hiding. This will come across to others as us being in-congruent, inauthentic or maybe not quite on message.
We all have met people who we knew were hiding something. Remember, how that made you feel. In their presence you yourself were not inclined to shine, to be you, to share who you are, were you?
Hiding equals Resistance
Hiding is a form of resistance. I believe resistance to ourselves. A resistance to allowing light to shine in the world as another of my mentors, spiritual entrepreneur, Nick Williams, would say.
If we were no longer hiding we may having to face up to certain things. This would mean we would have to take action and change – this change may be a step into the unknown or into uncertainty, and we are afraid of what might happen.
So here are some BIG QUESTIONS . . .
- What are you hiding from? Who are you hiding form?
- What are you hiding behind? Who are you hiding behind?
- What are you hiding in? Who are you hiding in (work persona, perfect mother, wife, friend)?
- What are you hiding below (a job title, a company umbrella)?
- What are you hiding from yourself?
- What are you hiding from others?
Having worked with leadership and emotional authenticity for a long time, I have been through the above questions numerous times over the years. I find it is useful to go through these questions on a regular basis. Why? Every time we learn, change or develop there is the potential for hiding.
My goal for the next thirty days is to deeply engage with those questions and shift whatever I might be hiding from, behind or under. I am going through significant change right now: writing my first full book and completing the setting up of my online business, whilst keeping the rest of my business going.
Acknowledgement is the first step to release and healing
I find that once I have acknowledged what I am hiding or hiding from, shifts start to happen. The solution turns out to be a lot easier and straightforward than the hiding was.
How does acknowledgement work?
Simple: Notice what you are hiding from without judgement or criticism!
If you ever found yourself hiding behind a mask, please put a comment in the box below. If you enjoyed reading this article, please share it on facebook, google+ etc
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Related Links
* Charlie Gilkey’s post “A month of no Hiding”
