Is it possible to be honest with others if you aren’t being honest with yourself? The answer is no!
If you do not understand and know yourself, how can you bring a person of honesty to the table? There are a few ways in which we lie to ourselves and others. The first is when we know we are lying and we decide it’s okay. We either don’t care about our word or we don’t think about it enough. Not caring is deceptive and not thinking shows a lack of awareness.
The second way we lie to ourselves is when we have a blind spot and truly don’t know we are lying. Therefore, we have no clue that we are lying to others. I know that this one is a tough one to believe, but trust me, we all do it. Unless we have a teacher or a really good friend that busts us, we may never know the darkness we don’t see. I have both a teacher and a good friend that keeps me on my toes looking in the mirror all the time. It isn’t that fun to get busted and if I wasn’t doing my work around myself, I would get defensive and probably lose a friend and leave my teacher.
Our Shadows hold the essence of who we are. They hold our most treasured gifts. By facing these aspects of ourselves, we become free to experience our glorious totality: the good and the bad, the dark and light.
-Debbie Ford
It isn’t easy looking at our shadow side, looking into those parts of ourselves that we either dislike or simply don’t know about. But like Debbie says, if we are willing to look at both sides, we are free to experience ourselves in total. Living life without being with the shadow side of who we are will prevent us from living in our most joyous self.
I know why I am on this planet, to evolve and be in service. Now, that doesn’t mean that I can’t thoroughly enjoy myself in the process. When we learn to be with the dark side of who we are, we can then move through the suffering and live in the precious light of life with our entire being.To be honest with ourselves, we have to look at all aspects of who we are, not only the good in us. Are you willing to uncover the dark side of yourself in a personal retreat to begin to live a more authentic life?
