People sometimes believe that they can be healed and that they can work though things in life without ever taking the time to dig into their wounds or to face their darkness.
The truth is, you have to face your darkness, and this is why shadow work is so important. Shadow work means that you look at the feelings that you have that you have ignored because to you they seem too dark, and they make you feel afraid or ashamed of who you are.
The point of shadow work is to take the darkness that you have hidden and to bring light to it so that you can heal and become a better and a whole you.
When you start working with your shadow, you will know that it is working and that you are being made whole and healed. Here are some ways to know.
Triggers
The first thing that will happen is that when someone acts the way that aggravates you, that it will no longer cause you to respond or to have emotions because of it. You will be able to ignore the triggers that once caused you to behave out of character and you will no longer feel that you need to respond to these things.
Blame
Another sign that things are working is that you no longer deny or blame others for your darkness or your shadow self. Instead of blaming others, you are learning to accept these things about yourself and to work to fix them instead of being turned away from them. This is a sign that you are healing and that you are changing.
Judging Others
You stop judging people so much, including yourself. When in the past, you had a hard time letting things go, now you have learned to accept others for who they are and to forgive them when they hurt you. This goes for yourself as well.
You will be more compassionate and loving because you see that when you judge others that it is just parts of you that aren’t healed. You will want to heal the wounds of others and yourself and people will not bother you by the way that they act anymore.
Shadow
You now realize that you have become part of other peoples shadow. You see that your journey is growing and that you are getting over your fears and the pain that you have suffered in your past. This fear and trauma could have come from a family member or from a friend or even when you were a child. You are beginning to realize that you are someone else’s shadow as well.
When you see this and you allow others to forgive you and you say you are sorry for those that you have hurt, you will learn to accept yourself and the wounds that you have, and you will know that this work is fixing you.
Fear
You are no longer afraid that someone will see who you are. We all have wounds and things that we have hidden from others, and we were once afraid that someone would see and misjudge us. Now, you realize that you aren’t unworthy of love or forgiveness, and you are ready to move forward in your life.
When your shadow work is really working out for you, the shame that you had before will start to go away. You will learn to accept love and to accept change. You will see that you are perfect just the way that you are, and you will learn to accept yourself completely.
Peace
Your life has come to the point where you have nothing but peace. This is the place that you want to be in your life, and it is a place where you can get if you learn to embrace who you are. Even the dark parts of you can be accepted, and even though this is hard sometimes, your life will be better as you learn to accept yourself completely.
The way that you talk to others and the relationships that you have with others and even with yourself will be better. You will see that you can be happier and that you can be more accepting.