Killing your demons might kill your angels as well
Authors and filmmakers have created tons of books and movies showing the eternal fight between the good and the evil.
And we’re kind of submitted to believe that it’s only worth striving for the good.
Their existence, however, is deeply bond to each other.
I came to understand of how much energy my fights were draining; Energy I couldn’t call up to nurture the good.
Facing our own shadows requires courage, where resistance and denial emerge as a natural reaction. But does this really help?
“Be careful when you cast out your demons that you don’t throw away the best of yourself.”
― Friedrich Nietzsche
The more we focus on fighting our demons, the more resistance we build.
And this resistance prevents us from developing and nurturing the positive aspects of ourselves.
For instance, if we develop the ability to understand our dark sides and navigating through our own struggles, in return, will cause growth of empathy and understanding for others. By eliminating or avoiding theses, we might lose capacity in connecting with others on a deeper level.
Let’s also consider emotions as an integral part of the human experience. For negative emotions provide contrast and depth to positive emotions and vice versa.
Suppressing negative emotions results in a flattening of our positive emotional experience.
The rule of polarity governs everything under this sky. It’s something we cannot change for as much as we would like to.
Whatever there is, it comes in pairs:
- cold, warm
- high, low
- small, tall
- light, dark
- old, young
- sad, happy
- good, bad
- angry, calm
- introverted, extroverted
- …
Nothing can exist without the other.
Fighting our demons always results in fighting a part of ourselves. A part that, if understood, loved and accepted, will nurture the positive in us.
I hope you enjoyed reading.
