The Shadow

[dannyegg4575]

“Our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate, but that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, handsome, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us. It is not just in some; it is in everyone. And, as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” - Marianne Williamson

I found this quote on the web after watching the movie, “Coach Carter”. It was a quote that goes against everything that I ever believed but it is also a quote that opened my eyes to a lot of truths. The purpose of this quote was for those who are afraid of being more than what they are capable of.

Isn’t that we all do? We have the potential to be more than we can be but we are also the ones to drag ourselves back down in fear of getting too high. Why do we do that? Why are we so afraid of being more than we can be? What are we afraid of? We do it because we fear of what others think of us. We do it because of constant judgment from others. We do it because we want to “fit in” to society as social creatures. People look at others and judge others all the time. So, we rather be less than we are capable of than to be more than we dreamed. Have it not ever noticed how when you succeed in something, there are those who praise you and there are those who will despise you? Those who despise you are the ones who will try to drag you back down. And the reason for this is because those who despise you are the ones who don’t want to be left behind.

We’re afraid of even conceiving to try because we think to ourselves before even starting, we have already made up many excuses to ourselves how we can fail. “What if we fail?” “What would family and friends think of us?” We’ll end up being laughed at and our subconscious telling us “Told you not to try.” like the big shadow that follows you everywhere.

Have you ever wonder what the purpose of the shadow is? Seriously, it follows us everywhere. I see a purpose with everything in life. Your hands are there to help you move and do things. Your legs are there to help you move around, your ears for you to listen, your eyes for you to see, etc… What’s the purpose of the shadow? When you walk around, you never really take notice of it. I mean, you don’t spend the whole day thinking about the shadow. I know I don’t. But sometimes, I wonder if the shadow is our own ego hiding in the background. It waits and waits for the right moment. The higher you reach, the smaller the shadow gets. But what happens when you fall? There it lies, waiting patiently for you to fail. Notice whenever you fail, you tend to look down? What is the first thing that you see? YOUR OWN SHADOW! It lurks its devilish head whenever you fall and poke its “I told you so” face at you.

I think each and every one of us has an inner demon. And that inner demon resides within the shadow. Our deepest fears, our deepest secrets, our cumulative histories, doubts and worries, etc…

Well, let me tell you something. Banish it now! A man does not walk around looking down all the time. Why would he walk around carrying these thoughts in his head? Accept that the shadow is a part of your life and a part of you. Accept that you have failed before and get your ass back up and try again. Because when you reach new heights, those thoughts of fear, doubts, anger, and etcetera will not be visible to you.

No one is going to neither judge you nor mock you for trying. You are only a failure when you don’t try. And you’ll have a bunch of self pity reasons like regrets, worthlessness etc…

"I've tried fixing your car yourself and failed." At least you tried.

"I've tried fixing your sink and failed." At least you tried.

"I've tried fixing a hole in the wall of your living room and failed." At least you tried.

You have tried your best and that is more than anyone can ask of you. If you failed, at least you took the time and pushed yourself forward to doing something than a majority of which who sit around all day learning self helplessness. Look how much time you’ve wasted thinking about what to do than to actually doing it.

You are never a failure by trying. You are a failure when you’ve given up.

Don’t be afraid to go to the edge of the clip. That’s where the view is. Look beyond the horizons and see beyond the clouds. Banish any thought that comes into your mind of telling you you can’t do something. Because when you do achieve it, it is you who will tell the shadow “I told you so.” Do you think the Wright Brothers cared about what others think when they were told that men can’t fly? Look up in the sky! Look at all the airplanes we have now flying across the Atlantic.

Today is the day that you stop acting like a *****. Childhood is over. Don’t sit around blaming anyone or anything. Do you want to go walk around being a coward all your life? Is this what you really want? If you know what you want, then go get what you want. Life’s going to send you bull**** tests along the way. You’re going to have to be willing to take those hits before you can get where you want to be. That, my friends is the secret to success. And if you failed, know that in this life, you tried your best and that your life was worth something and you have stories to tell your grandchildren about.