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Thoughts on lots of things, especially education, psychology, culture, religion, and personal growth.

Monday, July 18, 2011

Found: Personal Demon. Someone please claim. It showed up at my door, and I swear, it's not mine...

We all know people like these... People who are constantly a victim; everything in their life is someone else's fault.  Then there are the people who keep themselves so busy, they never have time to relax and just be with themselves to think. Then there are those with rage always simmering just below the surface, ready to boil over and burn the people around them at the slightest offense.  These (and more) are all signs of what I'll call "unclaimed personal demons" at work.


Ah, the demons.  Lurking around within some of us are traits we'd rather not identify with.  Pains we'd rather not feel.  Problems we'd rather not face.
As humans, we'd do anything not to take responsibility for our issues.  "What? That's not MY demon! I don't know where it came from. Must be a stray."
So we deal with them in one of two ways.  We either "exorcise" them so they are constantly outside of ourselves-- causing perplexing havoc and destruction to follow us everywhere we go.  Or we deny they even exist, essentially banishing them to the basements of our minds-- where they knock around, howl, and haunt, trying to be released.  Unruly things, these demons.


You'll see them in your dreams.  (What, you don't think YOU have them too?)  
They are the dark monsters that populate your nightmares.  The scary animals chasing you.  The serial killer with a huge weapon.  The demons are there, and they aren't going away.  What can you do?


Face them.
It's that simple.  (But oh, so difficult sometimes.) Own them.
I promise, it won't kill you.
The monster doesn't really want to eat you; it wants to be recognized and brought into your life.  Maybe you don't have the talent of lucid dreaming, to be able to make the decision to turn around and face the scary presence in your next nightmare, but you can do it while awake.  Most of us after a nightmare try to tell ourselves, "oh, it was just a dream. Try to forget it."  NO!  Remember it and work with it!  The single best thing you can do with a nightmare is to resolve the issue so it doesn't come back.  If you have dreams of scary things chasing you, here's what you do:
Close your eyes and bring yourself back into the dream, as vividly as you can muster. Feel the adrenaline.  Now, take a deep breath, stop running, turn around, and face the "demon," however it happens to be manifesting in your dream.  Examine it.  What kinds of feelings does it evoke in you?  Feel those feelings as strongly as you can.  Then give your personal demon a big hug, and say, "You are mine.  I'm so glad I found you!"  Watch it transform into a beautiful, light-filled creature of your choice.  You'll feel amazing, and best of all, you'll stop hearing those weird noises in the basement.

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