There reaches a time that we must tell our shadow self to step aside so that our light energy self can shine. How often do we allow our shadow self to lead in life? Every time we hesitate to take action, doubt ourselves, and allow ourselves to be skeptical about something we are wanting, needing, feeling, etc. Our shadow self is the part of us that keeps us from shining too brightly. It prevents us from standing out in a crowd. It keeps us reigned into the confines of conformity and normalcy. It can trigger us to stay in relationships that are unhealthy and toxic, simply because they are familiar to us. Our shadow self does absolutely nothing to excite us. In fact, if we start to feel excitement about something, our shadow self slithers in to cast doubt and squash our excitement. It does whatever it can to dim our light. Even when we’re about to achieve something major in our lives, it creeps in to speak uncertainty into our living being. We’ve seen this in sports, where a basketball player is about to attempt to make a shot, but their opponent is talking “smack” to them to get inside their head in hopes of helping them to miss the shot. The shadow self does the exact same thing. It wants you to be uncertain about yourself. It keeps you paralyzed in two minds.
Our shadow self glorifies our failures, mishaps, and mistakes. It never fails to remind us of all the times that we’ve been unsuccessful. It also voices, over our internal loudspeaker, all of our fears and anxieties. Our shadow self does this in hopes of preventing us from shining too bright. It wants us contained and submissive. Should we allow ourselves to shine brightly, we might draw attention from others to ourselves. Other people may start to admire us. They may applaud our success or praise us for what we’ve accomplished. The shadow self loathes this and forbids us to gain the respect and trust of others.
Then there are the instances where we ignore the shadow self and allow ourselves to achieve something great. After we have achieved our goal, the shadow self does not allow us to bask in our own success. Instead, it triggers what is known as impostor syndrome. We start to feel unworthy of what we’ve just earned or achieved. Our shadow self minimizes our victories. It belittles our triumphs, and again, dims our light.
It is not always easy to tell our shadow self to step aside because our shadow self is rather resilient and persistent. What we often fail to recognize is that our light energy self is rather strong too. It is difficult to keep our light energy self down for too long. Like an annual flower, it attempts to bloom after the cold. It is irrepressible. Our light energy self wants to see us gain the warm approval of others. It wishes nothing but the best for us. It wants us to be held in a high regard, trusted, and adored by many. Our light energy self is innovative, creative, and bold. It takes a leap of faith (which the shadow self would never do). Our light energy self is loving, kind, and supportive. It cheers us on when we start to feel discouraged. It gives us hope when we are doubtful. Our light energy self comforts us when we are fearful and energizes us to persevere when we are feeling tired. When we do succeed, our light energy self is there proudly looking on basking in our personal win.
The tug-of-war between our shadow self and our light energy self is constant in our adult years. The shadow self tends to stay away from the purity in children and the wisdom in the elderly. These age groups tend to allow their light energy self to shine with authenticity. The shadow self creeps in during our teen years and hangs around throughout most of our adult years.
We must learn to control our shadow self. It comes down to energy control. We are energetic beings. When we empower negative energies, we are allowing our shadow self to have an advantage over the light energy self in the tug-of-war within us. When we learn to disempower our shadow self, then we turn the tides and allow our light energy self to have an advantage. Staying in control of our inner energies is not always easy. Our energies can be influenced to swing one way or the other by people, our environment, or situations/circumstances beyond our control. When we feel our energies swaying too far in one direction or the other, particularly toward the shadow self side, we must step in to bring ourselves into balance. Gratitude, servitude, happy memories, etc. all help to disempower the shadow self. Reminding yourself about how much you trust your own abilities, qualities, and judgments also strengthens your light energy self.
The next time you hear or see your shadow self creeping in, make sure to tell it to step aside so that your light energy self can pass it on by. Allow your light energy self to take the lead, and entrust it with your vulnerability and naivety, while allowing it to shine your inner most light. Your successes and victories are as valuable as are your failures and mistakes. We learn from each.