Holding on to what you cannot change is like wrestling with your shadow. It makes for a frustrating relationship with yourself. The shadow is visible, but you will be continually frustrated and unhappy because you cannot control or change it.
In your business and personal world, you must know when you are wrestling with your shadow. Your shadow is all the things you cannot control.
In my personal business coaching in The Woodlands and Houston, very often I have clients that are wrestling with shadows. I have certainly wrestled with shadows. My shadows can be doubt, indecision, and timidity to name a few. They are valid as long as I wrestle with them. The moment I let go, stop wrestling with them, they lose their power to distort the picture I have of myself and my world.
How do I let go? First, what I am about to share does not always work. But when you have a method for dealing with your shadows you start having confidence which brings a greater degree of happiness. That alone puts me in a better place.
To get rid of my shadows, I journal. I get deep inside myself to discover what is truly driving my fear, the fear that creates shadows. My biggest challenge is to borrow trouble and turmoil in the future before it ever arrives. One of the things I journal about is the present and all I have to be grateful for. When I am grateful, I feel better, more at peace, and am willing, now that my foundation feels more solid, to overcome my doubts, indecisiveness, and timidity.
Overcoming your shadows is an inside job. Be truthful with yourself. It is the only place to start. Journaling helps me do that.
Some of the happiest moments in your life will come when you let go of wrestling with your shadows. Show the courage to let go. How do you do that?
Face the sunlight. Face what you are grateful for. When you do, you put the shadows behind you, in the past, and you are now positioned to grow. And with your shadow behind you, you are positioned to improve your relationship with yourself and with others.