How To Slay Your Personal Demons

What are you most stuck on? You know - the thing that lingers like a bad biting smell... And no matter what you do to shift it, it still stinks. Chances are it's your personal demon with its barbed tail firmly wrapped around your brain, spewing out hellfire and misery whenever you want to achieve something different - and positive. Perhaps its the constant worrying over money your parents drilled into you with their fanatical penny pinching. Or maybe its the little voice that says, "you'll never be good enough". Or mine - the ever-present dislike of my body shape and endless guilt for not behaving properly around food. These are your demons - the ones that feed you shame, fear, guilt, despair, worry, and self-loathing. I've always felt that they needed slaying - like a vampire you had to stab them in the heart with a wooden cross or something equally violent and bloody. After all, the demons have cost you years of grief, stress, under-achievement and pain of all sorts. Kill the suckers, I say! Somehow it never worked. No amount of hatred and venom can slay a demon. Not even Jedi power a-la Luke Skywalker can slice those suckers from the world. So how DO you slay your personal demons? With love. Ok I know your corniness radar just got turned up to 'high', but stay with me here - I promise it won't be too gushy. When I decided I'd had enough of feeling bad about my health and fitness regime, I decided the only way out was through. I put all of my mindset strategies to work and focused on what I truly desired and why, rehearsed it through visualisations and affirmations, and most importantly, I forgave myself. I forgave myself for wasting years of feeling embarrassed, ashamed and obsessed about the size of my trousers or the lumps that erupted in all the wrong places. I picked up my demon in my hand, stared it in the eye, and said, "Ok mate, you've been with me a long time. I know somehow somehwere you had a purpose and though I may not see what the point of all the pain was about, I choose to take whatever lesson you were meant to give me and move forward into a new life, without you. Thanks for showing me what I truly wanted. I now give myself permission to feel good." With that commitment and acknowledgment of the demon, it was a lot easier to become a different version of me - one that was proud, happy, and comfortable with her body and fitness regime. All of sudden it was ok to feel good. There are two key parts to this:

1. Acknowledging your demon's role in pointing to what you DO want (which is usually not what the demon is offering!)
2. Forgiving yourself for listening to an imaginary spiky thing sitting on your shoulder and giving yourself permission to feel good.

That's it! Not a big deal (though we're pretty good at making up drama). Living a happy life doesn't have to be complicated, or difficult, or a struggle, or overwhelming...like the idea of needing to slay a demon. Cuddle up with, it give it some appreciation, and blow it a kiss goodbye. What demons do you need to let go of? With love and appreciation.