Are you afraid to be yourself?

Question

Most people wear masks, of how they "think" they have to be in order to get along with others. A tough guy, a comedian, a cool dude!
Do you wear a mask? Or are you yourself?

Answer 1

myself.
maybe 90%

Answer 2

Everyone wears a mask at some point. Usually when you are meeting someone for the first time you wear one until you know what to expect. It is a safety device we all use to some degree. Some people come out from behind it quicker than others. However, I do not present myself to be different than I am. My mask is one of quiet observation until I get a feel for whather I can talk about anything or if not, what I can honestly discuss. I will answer any question asked of me in an honest manner, but I do not offer my opinion to anyone I do not know without it being requested first.

Answer 3

This is an excellent question because it speaks to how we are raised. As adults, have we effectively discarded those things that do not serve us or are we haunted by all the "shoulds" and "coulds" and "must be and do's" implanted in us since birth? With the result being, are we looking at the world through a construct that is false, like the "tough guy", "comedian" or the plethora of masks we made for ourselves from childhood?

I think the majority operate from some kind of persona for two basic reasons.

1) The persona created in childhood, or in the early teens, served us well when making friends and dealing with trying to avoid the discipline given out by our parents. As long as it continues to serve us, most feel no need to give it up.

1-a) Often people are not even "aware" that they have a false persona - they simply believe that this is who they are and how they operate. But if they are aware...

2) Deconstructing the persona in order to find and work from the true self is just too hard to do. It means you must put yourself through what Socrates described as, "The unexamined life is not worth living." Pealing away the layers is more often than not a very painful experience. It is a lot easier to just go from where you are.

The negative of this can be amply demonstrated by an old Jewish tale that was once told to me. The tale being,

When you die and meet god face to face for the first time, god will not ask you, "Why didn't you become Moses?" Instead, god will ask, "Why didn't you become (insert your name here)?"

Further, if you do not do the work of examining your life, your behavior, and your knee jerk reactions, you will be doomed to repeat the same mistakes and failed relationships over and over until your death. Consequently, as difficult as it is, it is far better to travel that undiscovered country than to do otherwise. So, to answer your question,

Having done the work and gone through the monumental gut wrenching pain, I am not afraid to be myself. I am myself and understand better than any Christian here what it truly means to be "born again."

Answer 4

This question in a recent business class came up, and I was very quick to say that I don't care what other people think of me, and that I was myself 100% of the time.
The more I got to thinking about it, however, I realized that I was only saying that I didn't care what other people thought of me, because that is the person I wanted to be like.
I realized that I did care what people thought of me a lot more than I initially thought. So I guess I do wear a mask sometimes.

Answer 5

I used to wear a mask, but now I don't. I am more comfortable being myself.

Answer 6

I wish I knew how to "wear a mask" today. Im a reall miserable person right now. being fake would really come in handy right now.

Answer 7

I'm all me, brother. Sometimes it pisses people off, and I've learned to keep my mouth shut when necessary. But I'm free to be who and what I want, and it's great.

Answer 8

anyone who says they are always themselves is either delusional, a pathological liar, or some combination thereof.

Answer 9

I am what I am ,never hid that of course I didn't get to far.

Answer 10

I am myself. Some like me and some don't. I "tell it as it is".