Most of us want to do the right thing. Our intention in the moment is to take care of ourselves and others but once in a while (and sometimes more often for some of us) the lure of our dark side prevails.

Have you ever heard the saying “he wears his heart (or emotions) on his sleeve”? Well we all do in some way, shape or form. We can carry the weight of the world (burden) on our shoulders if we’re not careful. We can carry our stress, tension and anxiety on our shoulders and as we have heard in cartoons, songs and poems, we can have an angel on one side and the devil on the other.

Representing our inner conflict in such a way tends to make sense. The little devil on the left side shoulder wants to be naughty, get into mischief and inflict havoc on our lives and those around us. The angel on the other side of us wants us to fight the desire to give in to the devil and focus on being pure, healthy and loving in every way.  

For centuries we have all had to confront the sides of us that keep us in conflict. The pure vs. corrupt. The virtuous vs. unethical. The good vs. evil.  How do we find the strength to hear the angel on our shoulder?  Is it really within us to overcome our inner contention?

Who do you want to be?  The protagonist in your story or the antagonist?

Here is something interesting.  Why does there have to be two sides to everything?  This isn’t Willy Wonka’s office where everything is cut in half.  There are actually three sides to every story right?  Yours, mine and what really happens? So maybe it isn’t so black and white as all this.  Maybe there really is a grey area and it’s within this grey area that all our sides are visible.

What if when it comes to our human psyche it’s not just two halves make a whole?  What if our peace depends on something more profound than left brain/right brain or subconscious/conscious or even good vs. evil?

Maybe it’s time to open up the circle and view it from another perspective all together.  Maybe it’s time to look at ourselves as we were meant to be seen.   Maybe it’s time to listen to ourselves and hear what each part of us has to say.

Maybe it’s here that we can know silence.

Are you ready to really get to know you?