What are you hiding from?

What are you hiding from? Me hide? never!!
 
Really? Then you won't mind me asking what your office looks like, and for that matter - your home office and your home in general.
 
Does your desk look like a snow storm of unfiled papers and bits of things you should have completed by now? Do you rationalise that the reason your desk is untidy is because you're really busy and you don't have time to clean up today. Well I'm not sure if I can agree to that one. You see we hide behind piles of work to show how busy we are...we try and fool ourselves into thinking we are so busy we can't possibly start x, y or z project - because we have so much to do.
 
And what of your home? We forget to put things away, and then what happens - yep we can't find it when we need it and need it in a hurry. So you have a mad tidy up - but stop immediately when you find the item you were looking for. But what have you learned from this episode? I would say absolutely nothing. Because I can almost guarantee that you will go back to not putting things away when you've finished with them. I should know I've been there. The thing is - if you are avoiding one task, a great way to do that is to hide behind "scruffy" then you can pretend you are making progress by having a major overhaul a couple of times a year. We are hiding from ourselves and our abilities - why? Are we scared of what we will find when we get to the bottom of the pile? Or are we afraid that if everything is neat and tidy then we won't have any more excuses?
 
But untidy homes and offices are only one sign that we are hiding from ourselves and our abilities. "We" are a good barometer of what we are hiding from too.
 
Take a look at what you are currently wearing. Did you dress to impress yourself this morning or did you throw on the first thing that came to hand? We have already spoken about being the director of first impressions. But this is the thing. If we are trying to hide our general lack of body tone or ample shape, what do we do? We cover it - usually in solid, dark colours, and usually with little or no shape. And what of your hair and makeup (assuming you wear it of course). Whilst cycling my 12 kms at the gym yesterday I decided to read a magazine - a sports mag as it turned out, (i find cardio boring as bat droppings so needed something to keep me going). In it there was some before and after pictures. In each case, the women - how come it's always women in these things anyway? looked frumpy as all dickens. Unwashed hair, no makeup and shapeless clothes. What happened - new and brighter clothes that showed off the curves, new hair style and colour and of course - makeup.

The food and depression cycle is also interesting. A lot of people hide behind food. They eat because they are "down" - it's not called comfort eating for nothing. Then what happens? it doesn't take long for the extra kilos to pile on, and the clothes you used to wear start to feel a little tight which gets you "down", so you eat something to cheer you up....and on the cycle goes. So the question is for today - what are you really hiding from with your current habits and behaviours? Remember, our lives are made up of minute decisions,  and each decision impacts on the next one that you make. it's time to stop hiding and to start discovering the real you.