I was at a regular monthly board meeting... and I allowed myself to get WAY engaged by what people were saying and how people were acting. I felt compelled to respond (not always softly), to justify, to explain, to sigh. I was TOTALLY frustrated. The meeting moved soooo slowly. It drove me NUTS and made me sick. So I developed a set of ten "flash cards" to remind me that I can change the world I live in by changing my own behavior.

One of the "flash cards" is the Yellow Mask - "Pull back... Pull waaay back. Back inside my mask...".

This is a little different from the "lean back" reminder, although it is also sort of the same. Sometimes I am so way out in front of me that I have almost left my body. When this happens I think that I am sooo exposed that I have little chance to choose my behavior -- it is all just automatic reactions.

So, I need to pull back inside of me, way back behind the mask that will buy me time so I can make choices about my reactions. I was on an airplane recently and recognized that I was just all over everywhere -- spread way out around me. So, I thought of this mask, and pulled back, and then pulled back some more until I felt like I was actually within my body space. That feels like a MUCH safer place for me -- and for everyone else.

I don't see this as a mask to hide behind - but rather the mask is the outer shell of my being. I need to be within myself. I need to be centered. From this position I have so many more choices regarding my thoughts and my behavior. And, in addition, it feels so much safer there. I just feel better when that is where I am.