As you breathe

We waste so much energy trying to
 cover up who we are, when beneath
every attitude is the want to be loved,
and beneath every anger is a wound to
be healed, and beneath every sadness
is a fear that there will not be enough time.

When we hesitate in being direct,
we unknowingly slip something on,
some added layer of protection that
keeps us from feeling the world, and
often that thin covering is the beginning
 of a loneliness which, if not put down,
 diminishes our chances for joy. It's like
wearing gloves every time we touch
something, and then, forgetting that
 we chose to put them on, we complain
that nothing feels quite real.

In this way, our challenge each day
is not to get dressed to face the world,
but to un-glove ourselves so that the
doorknob feels cold, and the car handle
feels wet, and the kiss goodbye feels
like the lips of another being soft and unrepeatable.

As you breathe, let each breath
 undress your being--of attitude, of mood, of history.~

~Mark Nepo
(via Sacred Dreams)