What are you hiding behind? Time to let it go.
I think I’m safe. Hidden from others’ sideway glances, judgments and my own harshness against myself. But the skin I hide behind is just that, a skin. And it doesn’t fit me very well any more. I’m growing out of it.
As I was hiking, I got another sign that indeed I was transforming. I happened upon a snake skin that was matted onto a rock. It seemed like such a purposeful throwing off and leaving behind that I could not take my eyes off of it for quite awhile.
I know that as I begin to let my identity—my skin—fall away, I see the truth of who I am. I also see the shadow side that wants and needs my attention.
I look at it all as I disrobe from the false security of my lifelong covering. A mask, really.
I’m ready to leave it behind. All the “stuff.” Not resisting the shedding of this part of me who isn’t really me. Shaking free, finally, of that person I “put on” each day.
As uncomfortable as it is to wear, now that I am more aware of it, it’s equally uncomfortable trying to wriggle out of it. I’ve been living in this shell for so long, I never knew how poorly it fit.
Apparently lobsters go through this. As they grow, their shells are too constricting and they find the safest haven they can to ditch the outer and regrow a new, more fitting shell. But in that time of regrowth, they’re vulnerable to predators.
But they have to do it. They have to go through this time of complete and utter defenseless rebirth if they’re ever going to come out the other side.
This process happens throughout their lives, too. It’s not a one-and-done thing. Just like us. We keep growing, shedding old ideas and beliefs as we become more aware. Or we stay stuffed in an ill-fitting identity and shrivel up.
So I choose to grow and shed. Grow and shed. Feeling utterly exposed and raw at times. I guess that’s the price I am going to pay, the price we each will pay, for finding truth, peace and purpose.
And ultimately that’s what I’m after.
If you see me without my skin, be kind and gentle. As I will with you should you be letting go, too.
