Now that the holidays are behind us and 2013 is fast
approaching, most people are working on (if they haven’t already) their New
Year’s Resolutions and/or their goals for the upcoming year. Resolutions are usually about improving ourselves:
losing weight, quitting smoking, exercising more, and reducing stress are a few
of these resolutions but what many fail to work on are the shadows that are
buried down deep that could possibly be keeping them from reaching their goals.
If you have made your list already, take a look and see if
they are the same resolutions that you put on the list for 2012. Did you put them on the 2013 list because you
need to continue to work on the change this next year or did you go back to
your old habits so you need to begin working on them again? If it’s the latter, are there some items that
are on your list every year because you give up on them for one reason or
another? If this is the case, there
could be some underlying reasons why you aren’t able to make those
changes. These reasons could be an
aspect of your shadow self. Let’s face
it, making changes can be extremely difficult.
Habits are hard to break and it takes perseverance and hard work to chip
away at those habits in order to make new ones but sometimes the obstacles go
deeper.
If you find yourself constantly trying to make the same
changes over and over again without any success, you may want to look at one of
your shadows. The answer could be
something that you already know but didn’t really give it a lot of thought or
it can be something that escapes you and you have to be your own detective and
search for clues. If, for example, your
resolution is to make better food choices and you find yourself reaching for
food that has in the past comforted you but is not necessarily healthy, you may
need to analyze why you need to be comforted.
Are you eating out of loneliness or sadness? Maybe you are stressed out? Instead of eating more healthy options, maybe
you reach for something quicker that is not as healthy. Why are you reaching for the quicker
option? Is your life so hectic that you
can’t take time to make better choices?
Why is your life as hectic as it is?
Can you make different choices to create more balance and achieve a more
manageable schedule? Do you thrive in
the chaos or does it deplete your energy? These are only the first level of
questions that you can ask yourself and those answers can reveal more
layers. These questions can be difficult
to face, which is why they are shadows in the first place. We don’t want to face them so we push them
down so deep so that we don’t have to think about them but the problem is that
they come out in other behaviors that we don’t expect them to, seemingly having
to do with nothing until we start looking at them and peeling back the
layers. If you are not sure what shadow
it could be or have no idea where to start looking, meditate on it, journal, or
pull a tarot card to give you clues as to what the underlying problem could
be.
Does every failed resolution have an underlying shadow? Of course not, but if a shadow is the cause,
it can be like beating your head against a brick wall until you look the shadow
in the face and tell it that you will not allow it to block your progress any
longer. You owe it to yourself to do the detective work and work on
every aspect of yourself that you want to improve. You deserve it.
I wish you all an abundant of blessings for 2013!
Happy New Year!!
