There is a part of us that the world knows and we too know. There are other aspects others can see that we may be blind to. And then there is a side to us which deep in our heart only we know and others cannot see, our dark side. This is a side of us that we are careful not to display to the world, and yet a side we struggle to change within.

Our dark side is tendencies we naturally have or may have acquired along the way, which when they manifest leave us with undesirable results and emotions. The important thing is not about feeling guilty, upset, or fearful, but rather understanding and learning to deal with our dark side.

When we drop our guard, either due to extreme pressure or extreme prosperity, we are essentially dropping our vigilance and alertness, giving our dark side the much-needed unmonitored space internally to express itself. The light of constant awareness allows us to arrest the rising tide of our dark side, nipping it in its bud before it engulfs us.

Feeding the dark side is like adding fuel to a fire. We may feel we have quenched a thirst and get the very short-term disillusionment that the darkness within is gone. However, we need to remember a powerful principle of life – no desire is satiated by the gratification of the desire. The more we give in, the stronger it grows. Deep conviction anchors us, allowing the storm within to pass.

But our anchoring will only be as strong as our resolve. We can only change things when we really want to. The problem often is that we enjoy our dark side. The experience of temporary enjoyment weakens our resolve, leading to remorse. Our resolve cannot be strengthened when we are vulnerable and weak. It is in the light of clear thinking that we need to reflect on the change we want to bring about and strengthen our resolve.

Darkness is the absence of light. When our clear stream of reasoning is eclipsed by the shadow of our dark side, we succumb. The light of knowledge dispels the darkness within. As humans, each one of us has a dark side we may be dealing with. It doesn’t make us a bad person, in fact when viewed correctly, it becomes a motivation for us to keep asserting the higher in us so that the lower drops.

And when we reflect on our dark side, we will discover deeper compassion and love within, for we would have understood a simple fact of life – we are not the only ones dealing with a dark side within.

(Picture – Gastown, Vancouver)