You and Your Shadow

"Me and my shadow
All along and feeling blue."

That's a very old song, yet it expresses something that is key to our well-being. We think there is something wrong with our shadow, the opposite of what we are consciously striving to be or become. We want that shadow side to go away. It cannot, in the same sense that we cannot only have light. Without the darkness, it would not exist.

Last night, I attended an event featuring Debbie Ford, author of The Dark Side of the Light-Chasers and several other books. She was remarkable in her clarity and simplicity. It reminded me of another old song that echoed the mores of its day:

"Love and Marriage, love and marriage,
They go together like a horse and carriage."

Some things can only be explained in terms of their opposites. Debbie suggested we think of a quality we possess that we really like. That put a smile on everyone's face. Then, she asked that we think what the opposite of it is, the dark, shadow side of our best trait. Simply she asked if we had ever entertained that shadow quality in any recess of our being. There was no question that we all had.

We are the sum total of all our parts, the sun and the shadow, the wonderful and the not-so-wonderful. Embrace it all. Love it all. It's you.

So, the next time someone says: "You are a ________!" No matter whether that blank is positive or negative, it is part of you. And, that's ok because without the shadow the light would not appear.

Many blessings,
Rhoberta

www.SoulDrivenLiving.com