To be honest, all of us feel a little bit broken at times.
There are moments of anger, frustration, fear, and frozenness. You might find mistakes you’ve made in the past haunt you, the question of worthiness weighing heavy in your thoughts, or worries replay over and over again in your mind.
There are darker parts of who you are that you keep buried, push away, or want to deny even exist.
After all, you know these feelings sap your energy and do not serve you.
And yet…
They do persist in showing up.
As much as you want to deny your darker side, the reality is that this is a part of who you are and the more you avoid it, resist it, and push it away the more it grows.
“Beneath the social mask we wear every day, we have a hidden shadow side: an impulsive, wounded, sad, or isolated part that we generally try to ignore. The Shadow can be a source of emotional richness and vitality, and acknowledging it can be a pathway to healing and an authentic life.” – C. Zweig & S. Wolf
The question is, how can you completely accept who you are if there are sides of yourself that you buried?
Be with your darkness
Look around the corners, under the bed, and into the dark spaces you pretend do not exist. Embrace your feelings, doubts, or insecurities. Say hello to the darker you, show it love and understanding, and simply be with it. This does support you, accept it and love it.
Be Honest
Be truthful with yourself when acknowledging your dark side. The Universal Law of Polarity states you cannot have up without down, in without out, or light without dark. Accepting your shadow side and understanding how it supports the polar you is freeing. Your darkness does not define you, it is a construct of thoughts and emotions there for you to understand.
“I know I carry my shadow, sometimes, like armor; sometimes like a wall to lean on, and sometimes like a weight to hold me down.” – Gail Kraft
Embrace the Empowering Process
Your shadow often is created by you when you bury an idea, a perspective, or a belief that is contrary to the norms of your environment. Don’t be surprised that when you embrace this shadow you allow creative, unique, and innovative ideas to surface. You allow constraints and stressors you might not have understood to go free and you allow yourself to live a more authentic life.
You have the power to choose to be whole. Choose to appreciate who you are and live in the moment. This is a practice of conscious choice and being present in the uniqueness of the moment. Take control, accept responsibility, and be aware that your perspective, response, and results belong to you alone. You know it’s time for even more.
If not now, when?
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