Quote: “The shadow is like a false assumption about yourself and reality that creates unnecessary difficulty, resistance, and pain in your life.”
I love our company name, inLight Connect. Essentially, it’s an invitation to connect with the light within yourself. This “light” is the light of awareness, it’s to see things (yourself, others, and life) more clearly.
Also, it implies that the light is already there. The light is simply waiting to be turned on, and the way you turn it on is by looking in that direction.
What direction? In the direction of the shadow. As you look in the direction of the shadow, you bring light to the shadow, and where light meets the shadow, it’s no longer a shadow (obviously).
The shadow is like a false assumption about yourself and reality that creates unnecessary difficulty, resistance, and pain in your life.
Here are 4 valuable questions I often ask myself when encountering what seems to be an unnecessary struggle.
- What am I assuming to be true that I don’t really know?
- How can I reframe this situation, so it’s not about my worth and value?
- What am I learning here, that will make it easier next time?
- Does this way of thinking (perception) actually support me and others?
In the most amazing and compassionate way, we are held back by impossible excuses and assumptions.
As humans, we are spectacular storytellers of limitation, and then we hide behind that limitation to avoid future failures and the risk of being rejected by others.
Just as easily (okay, maybe not always easy), we can transform those stories to empower our experience. The transformation of these stories happens by seeing the falsehoods in the current stories we tell.
This doesn’t have to be complicated, even though the shadow wants it to be complicated because that delays the illumination of the shadow.
When we shine a light on our shadows, we can see them for what they are, and they lose their power over us. This is where true growth and transformation happen. It’s not easy, but it’s worth it.
Take some time this week to reflect on the shadows in your life and how you can bring light to them. Remember, the light is already within you; you just need to turn it on by looking in the direction of the shadow.
