You Don't Have To Conquer The Shadow!

In the movie Mr. Smith goes to Washington, Jimmy Stewart plays a small town, idealist politician trying to hold his own against a political machine. He urges his humble constituents to stand up against seemingly unbeatable forces. "They are not so big as they appear," he insists, "they only cast a giant shadow."

In my experience, Mr. Smith's sentiments are well founded. How many times do we feel burdened by the magnitude of some problem, which turns out to be nothing more than an inconvenience and/or annoyance that throws a monstrous shadow. Yet we ruminate, avoid and dread dealing with the situation while the shadow cast by the problem grows larger and larger.

Almost all unresolved conflicts involve some oversized shadow, which looms over an otherwise manageable situation. Generally the source of this shadow is an unwillingness to tolerate situations that we find frustrating, frightening and/or depriving long enough to look beyond the shadow. Instead of confronting the source of our feelings of anger, fear or sadness, we hide from it in a manner that leads our feelings to accumulate to monstrous proportions. Our own strong feelings eventually cast a giant shadow.

Next time you find yourself believing that a problem is insurmountable, and/or feeling overwhelmed by the weight of some past traumatic event, take a good hard look. If you look calmly at your situation, with a realistic perspective, you may more confidently stand up to the shadow that it throws.

When it comes to problems that seem insurmountable, you don't have to conquer the shadow. You only have to conquer your own uncertain thoughts and feelings.