Walk those shadows into the light.
A time of personal crisis is an epic in life that can make or destroy you. Big men have made mistakes at crucial moments of their crises and have sunk beyond oblivion. It is like hitting the accelerator hard when all you need is hit the brakes.
Some have sought the confidence and wisdom of friends only to be sunk by the Brutus swords. Some have sought to engage in new pursuits in a bid to forget only to suffer depressions when the aura of the cosmetic excitement fades away.
Some have sought to run but the crisis has continued to dog them like our shadows. They duck, jump, leap, roll and that is what we also do. Such are problems in a man’s life. Ask a man called Jonah. Daunted by the weight of the mandate given to him he fled to the opposite direction , got dogged by the trailing shadow , got swallowed by a fish, shadow en suite, and only on vanquishing the burden legitimately did he obtain rest.
When the past dogs you, do not run. When your mistakes trail you, do not scamper. When the chickens come to roost, do not perch on the flagpole and hope to avoid their painful beaks. When the tiger puppy grows into a menacing brooding habit that will cost your time and happiness, do not run away. The time will be ripe to turn around and face the demons.
After wallowing in stress and depression trying to deny my shadows I learnt a simple solution – you do not walk away from your problems, you do not seek false refuge in self-denial and you do not bury your head in the sand and leave the world to view your exposed exterior. I learnt that the only way to handle the looming shadows that threaten to obliterate our lives is to turn around, walk into the light and the shadows will fade away. Light signifies truth, honesty, openness; democracy, morality and all our mothers raised us to be.
No shadow defies light. Light introspects deep into us and mirrors us so we know where we missed it. So when habits, lies, deception, idleness, incompetence clutter your shadow and you are busy denying reality just do one thing: walk into the light, face your demons and the sun will rise tomorrow.