He said, "I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraidbecause I was naked; so I hid myself."
Genesis 3:10 (NASB)
You may have seen the phrase -Esse Quam Videri- at the bottom of my posts. It is Latin for "To be, rather than to appear." It is a mantra that I have adopted in my life.
Many of us hide, we hide from our true passions anddesires. We hide from taking the stepstowards our dreams. We hide because weare afraid we will be found out. We areafraid that someone will find out that we are not being the man we should be,not using our full potential. We hide inour offices, we hide in the gym, we hide in our sports, we hide behind thetelevision but most of all, we hide behind our personalities or masks.
Many women proclaim “My husband was such a gentlemen, sopassionate, so romantic before we were married, then something just died?’ Why do women say this? Because when we first date, we put on ourmask, we hide our true selves because we fear that our true selves, our innersoul will be rejected by the world or even worse the woman we love.
I’ve met many successful men who had great jobs, trophywives, big house, new Mercedes, just bought a Harley last summer, etc. On the outside, they look as though they areon top of the world, the envy of all men. But, when you speak privately with them and they share their truefeelings, they are dying on the inside, scared of being discovered as afake.
It is a rare instance that you will meet a man that showshis true colors, he lives his values and wears his heart on his sleeve. When you meet them, they seem weird comparedto most people. They talk about dreamsand goals, adventure, following their heart, they are always happy, their wivesand kids are happy and secure. It makesus feel threatened.
Men aren’t the only ones who like to pose, walk into anychurch on a Sunday morning and listen to the conversations.
“How you doing?”
“Great, just fine, praise God”
What he doesn’t say is that his marriage is on the verge ofdivorce, he is drowning in debt and he can’t talk with his teenagedaughter.
The leader of the women’s bible study is the same person whois spreading rumors about other women.
Or how about the church leader who is having an affair withthe young woman from his work?
But we all just act fine because asking for help will showsome sort of weakness. Really?
Becoming a Legacy Dad is about getting out from behind thefig leaf, taking the mask off and living life with your true values. Asking for help, telling people how it reallyis, standing up for your faith at work. This process will really “fillet you open and show your true insides”Some men simply cannot live this way; they would rather hide and let their souldie a slow, suffocating death then to show people their true colors.
But, I guarantee you this. Taking this road less traveled will forever change your life and thelives of your children and wife. Onceyou cross over, you can see other people’s fakeness clear as day and you’ll wantto help them cross over as well. Andlife on the other side is so much fuller, so much happier and a lot lessstressful. Taking the first step isalways the hardest.
“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”
-Lao Tzu