Foreshadow...

I have a new car. She's a beauty. When we ride, we float. I love the smooth drive, the sound system, the comfort, the overall feel. There's a lot to get used to. She and I don't know each other very well, yet. My old car and I understood each other. I especially understood her shortcomings and her blind spots. This new car and I have a little acquainting to do. As I was driving in the morning sun, I went to change lanes, but I had not tweaked the mirrors exactly right. I turned my right signal light on and started to move over for I couldn't see a car coming...oh, wait! ...there was a shadow moving fast in my direction. There was a car coming.

It wasn't looking directly at the road, or seeing a reflection in the mirror that told me a car was coming. It was the shadow. Sometimes it is the shadow that foretells that something is looming, that there is an issue within ourselves we need to tend to. Just as one side of the car is lit up by beautiful morning sunlight and the other side of the car is chilled in lightlessness we, too, have an umbra. When we pay attention to the shadow, we can predict what could happen next, and we can prevent being blindsided by our own shadow forces. What are the shadow traits that come up for us? Dishonesty, anger, compulsive behavior, addictive conduct, impulsiveness, reflex reactions, impatience, hostility, guilty feelings, bad habits we had given up, judgment, moodiness and corruption are some of the traits that can tell us that we are afraid of something. Acting out of that fear, we are likely to sabotage ourselves, to harm those we love and to hurt our relationships.

Today is a good day to pay attention to your own shadow. What is it telling you? How can you bring light to it?