We all have things we’d rather not admit about ourselves, even to ourselves.

We all have regrets or at least choices we’d make differently if we had the choice.

We all have ideas about who we are and who we should be.

All of these labels, judgements, and comparisons create a shadow for us and we then spend time and resources trying to pretend the shadow doesn’t exist or we try to outrun it.

The thing is you can’t outrun your shadow.

No amount of money can solve your personal problems, no amount of ‘stuff’ is going to fill that hole inside you.

The way to get rid of the shadow is to shine a light on it. This requires courage and humility, and humility is not humiliation.

Humility is human and requires us first to recognise our limitations and secondly get the support we need.

In the words of Carl Jung:

“What we resist persists.”

In the words of Carl Rogers:

“The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I change.”

Let me know if you need help shining the light on your shadow.