{"id":4629,"date":"2015-10-31T13:32:50","date_gmt":"2015-10-31T17:32:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.heartsdesireintl.com\/?p=4629"},"modified":"2017-10-31T16:51:21","modified_gmt":"2017-10-31T16:51:21","slug":"which-mask-do-you-wear-in-relationships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/heartsdesireintl.com\/home\/which-mask-do-you-wear-in-relationships\/","title":{"rendered":"Which Mask Do You Wear in Relationships?"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Gladys Diaz<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Masks_bing_202307069_56e4233b10_z\"<\/p>\n

Today is Halloween and I\u2019m getting ready to decorate our front yard and start putting together my costume so that I can take my little one out trick-or-treating tonight. I love seeing all the little kids in their costumes, getting a chance to pretend that they are their favorite heroes and characters. I remember how exciting it used to be as a kid, myself (almost as exciting as looking forward to eating all of the candy once I got home!)<\/span><\/p>\n

Coincidentally, this week I participated in a course on relationships, and one of the things we discussed was how people in relationships hide behind their masks. The instructor explained how in life, we are usually wearing either one of two masks:<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When you are wearing your first mask, you show the world only who you want them to see. This is the mask that says:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got it all together!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m smart, capable, and just fine on my own! Thank you!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The other mask is the one that hides what you don\u2019t want others to see. It\u2019s the one that says:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m afraid.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to face this on my own.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Wearing the first mask gives you a false sense of confidence. It\u2019s the mask you use to seek approval, to look good and avoid looking bad. And, while it probably helps you accomplish many of your goals, it can also be the one that has you pretending to be pretty much perfect. And people \u2013 including men \u2013 simply can\u2019t connect with perfection. It doesn\u2019t allow others to get close to you and possibly contribute to you because, well, you\u2019ve already got it all together!<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Wearing the second mask can feel scary. It\u2019s the one you try avoiding wearing at all costs. It keeps you from being vulnerable, has you praying no one sees your insecurities or imperfections. So, again, this mask can also push people away. When you\u2019re that afraid of being seen, it\u2019s difficult for the other person to get to know you \u2013 the<\/strong> real you<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

And, as Michelle and I always say:<\/span><\/p>\n

He can\u2019t fall in love with YOU, if YOU are not there.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

So, for today, I invite you to ask yourself:<\/span><\/p>\n

Where in my relationships am I wearing a mask?<\/span><\/p>\n

What am I pretending?<\/span><\/p>\n

What am I hiding?<\/span><\/p>\n

What is it that you\u2019re afraid others will see?<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Remember, being authentic and vulnerable are essential to creating love and intimacy in a relationship.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Consider removing your masks and looking at who the real you is. Who you are is enough. You are already loveable. There\u2019s no need to pretend, shut out, or push away the people who can and want to give you the love you deserve \u2013 including the man who wants nothing more than to let you know that he loves and accepts you just as you are!<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Questions? Comments?\u00a0 Let us know below!\u00a0 We love hearing from you!<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Gladys Diaz   Today is Halloween and I\u2019m getting ready to decorate our front yard and start putting together my costume so that I can take my little one out trick-or-treating tonight. I love seeing all the little kids in their costumes, getting a chance to pretend that they are their favorite heroes and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,10,11,13,16,17,22],"tags":[30,47,50,56,57,59,63,68,70,87,92,105],"class_list":["post-4629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dating-2","category-hearts-desire-international","category-heartache","category-intimacy-2","category-love-2","category-marriage","category-relationship-advice","tag-acceptance","tag-dating","tag-empowerment","tag-happiness","tag-hearts-desire-international","tag-hope","tag-intimacy","tag-love","tag-marriage-2","tag-relationship-advice-2","tag-self-love","tag-women"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/heartsdesireintl.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4629","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/heartsdesireintl.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/heartsdesireintl.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heartsdesireintl.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heartsdesireintl.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4629"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/heartsdesireintl.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4629\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/heartsdesireintl.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heartsdesireintl.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heartsdesireintl.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}