One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.
—Carl Jung
One who conquers self, conquers all. Many of us have spent a lifetime running from ourselves. We have used food to stuff down and avoid uncomfortable feelings and truths about ourselves. We humans have a shadow side consisting of things we’d rather not face about ourselves. These include repressed feelings, fears, shortcomings, addictions, etc.
For a true weight loss transformation to occur, we must stop looking outside of ourselves to be rescued or fixed and begin to take responsibility for our own process of growth. Many people practice spirituality lite; they use and want spirituality to make them feel better. Real transformation isn’t bliss. It takes courage to get down and dirty in the muck of our own darkness to find the real nuggets of gold. This means being willing to face ourselves with total honesty. It means owing up to all the ways we block our light and growth.
People are often loathe and afraid to admit to their own faults and weaknesses. They falsely think this will make them an inferior or a bad person. This is a lie. There are no perfect people and perfection is an unobtainable goal. We are all a mixed bag of strengths and weaknesses, light and dark. This is what it means to be human.
In fact, we don’t have to fix anything. We aren’t broken or defective. The journey isn’t about becoming perfect; it’s about becoming fully human. We already have everything we need inside of us. All we need to do is uncover and remove the layers that are clouding our natural brilliance. As we surrender to the transformational process, our darker nature is transformed into light and we begin to have full access to our humanness. We become whole and that is the most any of us can ever hope for.
As long as we’re alive, we will be works in progress – we and our lives will never be a finished product. When we can let go of our false aspirations and expectations of ourselves, we can relax into who we really are and learn to enjoy the journey one day at a time.
Today, I take an honest inventory about the ways I hide my own light. I list the character traits, attitudes, fears, excuses, and other feelings and habits that are keeping me from being my true and best self. A true weight loss transformation becomes possible when I am fully honest about who I am and where I’m at.
I must get real and face the darkness in myself in order to bring myself into the lite.
Quotes
Everyone is a moon, and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody.
― Mark Twain
Real transformation requires real honesty. If you want to move forward, get real with yourself.
— Bryant McGill
Fear can only grow in darkness. Once you face fear with light, you win.
― Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free
I will love the light for it shows me the way, yet I will endure the darkness for it shows me the stars.
― Og Mandino
People will do anything, no matter how absurd, in order to avoid facing their own souls.
— Carl Jung
Affirmations
I am a mixture of light and dark, weak and strong. This makes me fully human.
I am a work in progress.
My imperfections make me human.
I allow myself to be who I am.
I am willing to face the ways I hide my light.
I let go of the things that cloud my light.
I allow myself to shine.
