Today at the gym, we were told to count how many rounds of an exercise set we could get through in 15 minutes. The goal was to get nine.
Personally, I’m terrible at math, and counting is a part of math, so rarely can I keep track of counting anything, much less counting for 15 minutes. When time expired, the coach asked me how many rounds I completed, and I told him I didn’t know. He said it looked like I was working hard, so he gave me a 13. A fair number, but probably lower than what I actually completed. But after he gave me my number, it set the bar for everyone else in the class to beat it, which they did, and that really bothered me.
I call those emotions competitiveness and pride, and one is better than the other.
But if there’s one thing I don’t show, it’s emotion.
No one in the gym this morning would have been able to tell that my pride had a grip on me and that I wanted to be the best. I masked it with the quiet, calm face that I always have on, and I didn’t say anything.
And I am glad I didn’t because pride isn’t always the best emotion to show, especially in cases that don’t really matter, like this morning at the gym. The real problem comes because I tend to mask all my emotions.
Happy. Sad. Angry. Anxious. It doesn’t matter, there’s a mask for that.
And I believe that’s something we can all relate to. We are all masters of masking something.
Forgiveness. Empathy. Doubt. Fear. These are other emotions we mask.
Showing emotion takes courage, especially when that emotion is called for and needed most. Which one are you masking?
-Cliff
Cliff’s Note: Show some life.