March 13 - Line for the day

"Now at first, you are going to think its a silly story."
- Pg 66, Leadership and Self-Deception, by The Arbinger Institute

Thinking that you'll look silly for saying or doing something is probably one of the biggest issues I've struggled with while growing up. A series I attended a while back called it 'looking good'. Our need to look good in front of people, whether it be a chosen few or the public at large. And automatically the balance of power shifts from self to others. Expression becomes a function of not what I really want to say or am thinking, but how I want others to perceive me. Is that wrong? Not necessarily. In some cases, it might even be self preservative. Hell, I'm sure it started off being self serving when the impulse first manifests. The problem, as always, is in excess. When every thought, action is pre-edited to the point where you may not be even aware that you are doing this as you speak/act. When it becomes an unconscious instinct. We have mastered the mask, and lost ourselves.