Some Things Have To Be Believed To Be Seen

"They Can Conquer Who Believe They Can"

Virgil (70BC-19BC)

Don't be fooled by me. Don't be fooled by the face I wear. I wear a mask. I wear a thousand masks. Masks that I'm afraid to take off; and none of them is me.
Pretending is an art that is second nature to me, but don't be fooled. I give the impression that I am secure, that all is sunny and unruffled. Within me as well as without; that confidence is my name and coolness is my game. That the water is calm and I am in command; and that I need no one. But don't believe me, please. My surface may seem smooth, but my surface is a mask., my ever-varying and ever-concealing mask.
Beneath lies no smugness, no complacence. Beneath dwells the real me in confusion and aloneness. But I hide that. I don't want anybody to know it. I panic at the thought of my weakness being exposed.
That is why I frantically create a mask to hide behind-a nonchalant, sophisticated facade-to help me pretend, to shield me from the glance that knows. But such a glance is precisely my salvation, my only salvation, and I know it. That is, if it's followed by acceptance, if it's followed by love.
It is the only thing that can liberate me from myself, from my own self-built prison wall, from the barriers I so painstakingly erect. It's the only thing that will assure me of what I can't assure myself-that I AM really something.
Who am I, you may wonder. I am someone you know very well. I am every man you meet. I am every woman you encounter. I am every child as well. I am right in front of you. Please...love me!

-Seeds of Greatness, Dennis Waitley