2948: The Cave You Fear To Enter Hides The Treasure You Seek by Adi Redzic on Confronting Your Fears

[00:00:00] This is Optimal Living Daily, Episode 2948, The Cave You Fear To Enter Hides The Treasure You Seek by Adi Redzic of AdiRedzic.com

[00:00:10] And I'm Justin Malik, your personal narrator, reading to you every day,

[00:00:14] hoping to help both you and me find a little more happiness, inspiration, and motivation in our day.

[00:00:20] So with that, let's get right to our next article and continue optimizing your life.

[00:00:29] The Cave You Fear To Enter Hides The Treasure You Seek by AdiRedzic of AdiRedzic.com

[00:00:37] There's a cave within each of us that we fear to enter. This metaphorical cave is hardwired into our psyche

[00:00:44] and is filled with traits, feelings, and experiences we are ashamed of, don't understand, and frequently disown.

[00:00:52] Together they form unconscious beliefs, habits, and attitudes that direct our life, often without us even realizing.

[00:01:00] Your conscious beliefs to things you write down or share with others are only a part of the equation.

[00:01:06] Unless you face, understand, and integrate what's unconscious, i.e. enter the cave,

[00:01:12] you'll likely fall short of your dreams, limit your true potential, and even become your worst enemy.

[00:01:19] This cave began forming early in your life. Maybe you had a rough childhood, felt weird or inadequate,

[00:01:25] were bullied, or experienced a lack of rejection in some form. Most of us have.

[00:01:31] You responded to these events by coping, internalizing, and sometimes acting out.

[00:01:37] This served an evolutionary purpose. As you grew up, these responses morphed into beliefs

[00:01:42] about yourself and others, rendering certain parts of who you are as inadequate or

[00:01:48] unacceptable. These are your perceived flaws, tribulations, and personality traits.

[00:01:53] You and I will refer to these as your monsters. Due to their uncomfortable and scary nature,

[00:02:00] your brain relegated them to the deepest parts of your unconsciousness.

[00:02:04] But make no mistake, they've been directing your life all along, usually keeping you stuck in the fear,

[00:02:10] self-doubt, and replication of past experiences. And it'll keep doing so until you face them.

[00:02:18] And thankfully, there's a way to do it. Shine the light on your monsters.

[00:02:23] Monsters require one thing in order to thrive, to remain hidden, in the dark, away from your

[00:02:29] awareness. They rejoice when they aren't seen. Pushing them down, ignoring, or denying their

[00:02:35] existence only gives them more power. Like a kid who's scared of a monster under the bed,

[00:02:41] seeing is the only way of believing that there's actually nothing to be afraid of.

[00:02:47] Shining light on your monsters lets you see them for what they really are.

[00:02:51] Let's try it. What are some of your monsters? Write down as many as you can or feel comfortable

[00:02:57] to share with yourself. Some examples could be, the reason I keep chasing wrong relationships

[00:03:03] is because I'm afraid I'm actually not lovable. Or, I don't find meaning in my work because

[00:03:08] I never wanted this, but I did it because I felt I had to. Or, I feel lethargic and

[00:03:14] depressed because the narrative in my childhood taught me that I'm not deserving of

[00:03:19] authentic happiness so I'm stuck going through the motions. Or, I keep self-sabotaging because

[00:03:25] I'm actually afraid of success. Writing your monsters down allows you to see them and own

[00:03:32] up to them. Feeling uncomfortable yet? Good, it's natural. Keep going. The next step is to

[00:03:39] connect with and understand your monsters. Where did they come from? What experience introduced

[00:03:45] them into your life? Did you realistically have any control over it? How did that circumstance,

[00:03:51] belief or trait make you feel? What did they teach you to feel and believe about yourself

[00:03:57] or the world? What decisions have you made or what situations have you found yourself in today

[00:04:02] that are driven by these beliefs? Everything in our life has a purpose to advance our growth

[00:04:09] and the same is true of our monsters. The key is to get curious about them and ultimately ask

[00:04:15] ourselves can I accept the monsters as something that had to be a part of my life's journey

[00:04:21] and has a bigger purpose, perhaps one I can't yet see? For example, if you're bullied,

[00:04:27] you might be inclined to bully others or you can use the painful lessons to stand up for

[00:04:32] those bullied. If you're disabled in some way, maybe that has taught you or can teach you

[00:04:38] compassion and understanding. If you're struggling to answer these questions, it's okay,

[00:04:43] try working it out with a trusted friend, a therapist or a coach. The goal is to be

[00:04:49] friend these monsters so you not only understand how you've been directed by them,

[00:04:54] but to flip them and the beliefs they fueled so they benefit you and your future. Finally,

[00:05:01] congratulations. You've now joined the ranks of only about 35% of humans who are capable

[00:05:06] of this type of courageous and deep reflection. All of us have parts of ourselves we'd rather not

[00:05:13] have, see or admit. But whether we admit them or not, the truth doesn't change. However,

[00:05:20] when we accept them and use them as guides, we free ourselves and let the best within us

[00:05:25] shine through. The process can get messy and confusing, but the outcome is that you realize

[00:05:31] that your monsters are actually your biggest allies, not your enemies, for they contain the

[00:05:36] inspiration and wisdom to develop courage, strength, confidence, and empathy within you.

[00:05:43] This will lead you to becoming a better version of yourself, a self that is healed,

[00:05:48] integrated, and embraces life fully and authentically. You just listened to the post

[00:05:59] the cave you fear to enter hides the treasure you seek by audi redsik of audi redsik.com

[00:06:06] Thank you to audi. I do think this can be a great exercise and can't argue that the monsters

[00:06:12] tend to really thrive and grow in the dark, but the more they're exposed, the less power they

[00:06:18] have. I first learned about that in a cognitive behavioral therapy book. But often with these

[00:06:23] monster analogies, I like to change it to something less scary or evil, maybe even something funny,

[00:06:30] so that not only are we shining light on it, but also diminishing its value as a negative thing.

[00:06:36] Just by making it a monster, I think it gives it a little bit of extra power

[00:06:40] that we instead could be taking away. Just a slight difference in how I see it,

[00:06:44] but in any case definitely worth looking into. And like you said, struggling to answer those

[00:06:49] questions is normal and okay. It can help to try to work it out with a friend, partner, therapist,

[00:06:57] or even trying to write it out and then throwing it away after could work better than

[00:07:02] trying to simply think about it. You never know what will work best for you until you try.

[00:07:07] But hopefully you will try it out. I think there's a lot to gain.

[00:07:10] But that should do for today and another edition of OLD. Have a great rest of your day

[00:07:15] and I'll be back tomorrow with another post. Where your optimal life awaits.