The part which is comprised of all the aspects of ourselves that we do not accept, the part of us which we consider to be the dark unconscious part, the part which we hide so well we almost fool ourselves that it does not exist, is of course the Shadow.
The shadow contains all the parts of ourselves that we try to hide, deny or suppress. It is the keeper of all the aspects of ourselves that we dislike and the qualities that we judge as unacceptable. The shadow wears many faces: angry, critical, fearful, lazy, controlling, selfish, weak, pathetic… These are the faces we don’t want to show the world and the faces we don’t want to show ourselves. Most of us expend huge amounts of energy trying to get rid of or control these unwanted aspects of ourselves. We hope that by hiding or fixing our "bad qualities" we will have the peace, success and happiness we desire. Most of us are convinced that we are flawed and inadequate so we become masters of disguise, and go to great lengths to hide our bad qualities from those around us – even from ourselves.
Our shadow is most often seen when we project it onto others.
We often recognize it only after we have reacted to it in someone else. A good indication that what we are reacting to in others is really our own shadow; is our dramatic response to it. We will either revere it to the point of lowering our own image of ourselves, making us feel less than others, or we’ll hate it to the opposite extreme of raising ourselves up, making us feel better than others. These "raisings" and "lowerings" cause us to react in endless ungrounded patterns either emotionally, physically, or mentally since they are themselves not grounded in truth.
The result of turning our backs on our dark side? A life that slips by being only half lived. Dreams that are never realized, or worse, that lay buried under years of resignation and shame.
Until we make peace with our shadow we will continue to be at war with ourselves. And our outer world will mirror our inner struggle. What we resist persists – and we will create and attract from others that which we most dislike in ourselves.
Until we feel authentic compassion for each and every aspect of ourselves, we will continue to draw forth people and events that will mirror the negative feelings we have about ourselves.
Until we take back our power and forgive ourselves for being human we will attract people who push our buttons and reactivate our emotional wounds.
The biggest misconception about the shadow is that it hides from us things we would not want to see in ourselves, but the truth is that there is only our splendour awaiting.
And until we find the courage to love ourselves completely, we will never truly be able to experience the love from those around us. We don’t need to guess how we really feel about ourselves at the deepest level. All we have to do is look at how the outer world treats us. If we’re not getting the respect, love and appreciation we desire from the outer world, it’s more than likely we aren’t giving these things to ourselves. This is the benevolence of the Universe in action. The whole world is a mirror of our own consciousness, and when we make peace with the disowned aspects of ourselves, we make peace with the world.
And how do we make peace with ourselves and with our world to finally experience our true authenticity?
We stop resisting!
Our resistance is the fuel that is keeping the Shadow in the shadows.
Resistance to all those aspects of ourselves which we do not want to experience is the very fuel used to ensure that we continue to experience those exact aspects.
So instead of offering them and ultimately the Shadow resistance, we can offer acceptance to the fact that they are there and that they are a part of you. You do not have to accept them in themselves, nor is your acceptance of them to mean that you suddenly like them when you clearly do not. You can instead accept that you do not like them. It is the focus on acceptance that removes their power over you. And the more you focus on what you accept in the prescence of your Shadow, do you force your Shadow into the light and thereby force your Shadow to change its very nature to match the light you are infusing it with.
Until, eventually only you remain. Allowing you to experience yourself fully in your
True Magnificence!
