"The world is run by monsters and you have to deal with them. Some of them run countries, some of them run banks, and some of them run news corporations."

Ken Livingstone

When we were growing up, we were all afraid of monsters. Whether it be the monster under our bed, the one hiding in our closet, or the one lurking in the basement, we were afraid. We may have never actually seen these monsters, but we knew they were there. Lurking, watching, and waiting with their beady eyes and mincing smiles to strike in your moment of weakness. What we didn't prepare for were the scariest monsters of all; the ones in our adult lives not easily identified by the naked eye.

To some degree, we encounter monsters every day. Some you spot right away. These are the ones that make no attempt to hide their conniving smile or glowing red eyes. Then, there are the ones who are masters at camouflage. The ones that hide their horns under beautiful flowing hair and disguise their claws as perfectly manicured nails. These are snakes hiding in the tall grass calling you their best friend, love, or baby in between their poisonous bites that take out of your spirit. These are the ones you have to worry the most about.

Unfortunately, most of us have been there. We've had a significant other or best friend we thought was the absolute best person in the world. They did no wrong and you thought that they had only your best interest in mind only to find out that was the furthest from the truth. Whether your realization came after a few months of pain or several years of hurt, it takes its toll. We all feel that sting when it ends. Losing what you thought was someone who had earned a permanent place in your life, along with the pain of a bruised ego.

How could you let them in?

How could you be so blind?

What could have stopped this?

Why would they do such a terrible thing?

The questions start to fly and when they do they're hard to stop. What we have to realize is that sometimes we have to get in deep with these monsters before we can learn our lesson. We have to fall for the fake compliments and empty promises so that we can truly get our feelings hurt and learn this lesson on our own, so that next time we are approached by a monster in disguise, we know what red flags to look for.

Monsters live among us daily. They run our local businesses, banks, big time corporations, and sometimes even our government. They walk our streets, sit beside us on the bus, and in the worst case, lay down beside us at night. We must learn to see past the disguises and look straight into those blazing red eyes and see the monster for what they really are. After all, disguises can only last so long before the truth starts to shine through.