Hiding

Hiding….

Do you ever want to hide? I know I have certainly been guilty of hiding at times in my life. 

Recently, I had some cosmetic injections done – with the hopes of erasing some of the age lines on my face. The doctor doing the injections told me the procedure would erase 8 years of age from my face …. 8 YEARS! 

Of course, I was thrilled at the promise of those 8 years being removed from my face! Yep, I jumped right on the bandwagon of trying to turn back the hands of time. 

The unexpected aftermath of the procedure took me by surprise; there was swelling, there was bruising. So, I hide – for days after. I could look in the mirror and see that the rest of my appearance looked really good! But the bruising.. that kept me in hiding. 

If I’m being honest, I struggle with aging. Each year on my birthday, I’m ‘29 again’! Funny – yes. But in truth, I’m just hiding from the reality of my age. 

Hiding Behaviors and Lessons Learned

Sometimes my hiding is self-inflicted; other times the reasons I’ve hidden were not self-inflicted, but inflicted by someone else’s decision or choice. 

Behaviors when I hide can include:

• Disappearing
• Withdrawing
• Keeping to myself
• Not going out

Lessons I’ve learned from hiding:

• My wounds WILL give way to growth if I let them
• Others hide, too
• I am loved – even with my wounds; self-inflicted or inflicted by others – I am loved

How do you hide? Do your wounds keep you from letting others see you?

Next time you want to hide, take a deep breath and remember – you are NOT alone, you can heal and grow – and you are loved. 

Give thanks to the God of gods, for his steadfast love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his steadfast love endures forever;

Psalm 136:2-3