The sign on the side of the road read, Flea Market; so I make a u-turn to see what treasures I could find.  You know what they say about one mans junk being another mans treasure; well on this day it was all junk as far as I was concerned.  Table after table full of rusty tools, 20 year old VHS tapes and dusty dolls crammed the isles.  Thankfully the only think I took from the Flea Market was a few photos; what a bargain!

        Hanging on a nail at the corner of one of the strange booths was this creepy mask.  Immediately I stop as I find myself peering down into the empty eyes of my deceptive friend.  There was something about his vacant gaze that seemed to demand my attention.  For a few moments I stand and stare into his haunting face.  Suddenly I realize that there is something disturbingly familiar about his expression.  I know I have seen that look before; it was his eyes; where have I seen those eyes before?  Then it hits me like a ton of bricks when I remember where I last saw that deceptive expression.  It was in my mirror.

        Regrettably there have been times in my life when I have worn the mask of deception.  Sadly I am too familiar with the emptiness left in the wake of dishonesty, pretense and disguises.  I thought it would be easier to wear a mask than to reveal the real me.  An ugly face is sometimes safer than the real one.  What is it that causes us to seek a disguise instead of honesty, a pretense instead of reality?  We fear the opinions of others so much that we conceal or pretend just as truly as if we put on this mask.  The real tragedy is when we end up fooling our own selves.  We are so accustomed to wearing a disguise before others that we are unable to recognize ourselves.

        Why don't we remove the mask we wear in an attempt to impress people we don't even like?  Let us seek openness and honesty in our dealings today.  Don’t pretend to be what you don’t intend to be.  Be yourself.  Let people see the real you.  You might be surprised to find that people will like the real you better than the one wearing the mask.  Stop the masquerade.  Remove the mask.  Let me see the real you not your impersonation of somebody else.  Happiness is a choice; choose to be honest, genuine and real today.

Something to think about:

• The most exhausting thing in life is being insincere.

• A commentary of the times is that the word honesty is now preceded by old-fashioned.

• Honesty consists of the unwillingness to lie to others; maturity, which is equally hard to attain, consists of the unwillingness to lie to oneself.

• Honesty has a beautiful and refreshing simplicity about it. No ulterior motives. No hidden meanings. An absence of hypocrisy, duplicity, political games, and verbal superficiality. As honesty and real integrity characterize our lives, there will be no need to manipulate others.

• The easiest way to remain poor is to pretend to be rich.

• Fear is simply unbelief parading in disguise.

• Honesty is the first chapter of the book of wisdom.

Thankful for the honesty of good friends
Rickey Moore