The man behind the mask

As humans, we adapt to certain situations around us. We just call it human nature and just follow our instincts. This particular human skill is wonderful but not without its flaws. I wonder, who is the man behind the mask?

Adaptation, a basic survival skill

We have learned to adapt to certain situations to try and fit in, those who can't are treated as outcasts, and those who manage to fit in will have to hold on to such pretense until at such time when the burden becomes too much the best and the mask adds up more weight until it's coming off on its own and the real you although now visible to everyone is no longer recognizable to you.

The real you is who you are when nobody is watching

There is a reason why people try to seclude themselves from a group when trying to discover who they are. This is common among the more spiritual people who often go to the wilderness or the mountain, somewhere they can be alone to build a bridge with their subconscious. You may also notice it in your behaviors when you often want to be alone in your room, or somewhere private, you don't want to be around friends or engage in any form of conversation. This is a much-needed retreat that has been built in our brain instinctively as a survival technique from the pressure to always try and fit in.

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Fake it till you make it

Trying to fit into certain situations is not as bad as you might already think. We live in a world where to be successful you need to be able to satisfy someone's need in one way or the other and more importantly, you need to know someone, very few people are opportune to be where they are today based on just their qualifications and skill set. To be recognized you need to do something "extra".

The mind, the power palace, this is where it comes in. A very powerful tool that one, it has the ability to change the world and a person completely. It is often said having a positive mind about something attracts positivity. By simply adjusting your mind to fit into certain scenarios, the whole body will follow suit. It's amazing how that is.

You love what you spend your time doing

Once your mind has adjusted to this new scenario, you start to discover this was what you wanted all along. You get that conviction that you are in the right place doing what you really love. Is this all a facade? More like a mental escape? Or is this the truth?

To test this theory, try and find out how many people in their given profession actually wanted to do that from the start. In fact, I believe nothing we do comes from us, it's all influenced. Some kids end up being Medical Doctors because their parents are, some end up being Lawyers because Daddy told them how awesome Lawyers can be since they were children.

Another way to test this theory is trying to spend more time reading a book, or playing a game or the most common one, spending more time with someone of the opposite sex, you just get more fond of that person, so much that when they are not there, you feel a void (this is where my conviction about a boy and girl being best friends without getting any feelings attached stems from, but that could be up for debate).

You see only what you see

Just like that, your mind has been wired to fit into any situation that brings more benefits to you, the real you starts to fade as you transform into this new person. You are happy with the changes, and that is all that matters, you see only what you want to see. Who you used to be becomes a distant memory and just like that you wear a mask and convince yourself it is who you are meant to be. You wear this mask so much that you even forget to take it off and it soon becomes YOU.

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Change is constant

As time goes by and as nature would have it, everything changes. Just as the sun would rise and set, and the season would change from winter to spring to summer and fall, situations will change as well and as such you will have to change your mask again.

The humble lowly secretary who had great respect for his boss will suddenly become the proud Boss who shows hatred and contempt to those who work under him as a reminder of what he had been through to get to where he is OR The proud businessman who loses all of his finances to bankruptcy after a failed business decision and is now forced to start over.

Regardless of the current situation after the change, sitting in his penthouse with a glass of very expensive wine still wearing the new suit he had just bought from Italy custom made to his taste sitting on his comfortable sofa or living off the street trying to find a job as a waiter at McDonald's he will always wonder.

"who is the man behind the mask?"

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