Do you feel like others do not really get who you are? How strong and powerful you actually feel within? How much potential you can share? How much pain you have endured? How big of a heart you have? How deep your emotions go? What you can really do?

People don’t know what you can do because you haven’t given them a glimpse of your inner chaos.

You only let them see your perfect image, you do not let them peak into your darkness, your mistakes, pains, and flaws. That’s why most of us feel like we can’t connect with others. We want to show them only an edited version of ourselves, not our true selves.

Our darkness is what actually creates the deepest connections with others, our flaws, not our perfections.

Committing mistakes is not the end of you, rather it’s the beginning of your journey to find your hidden genius and flourish into your real potential.

Stop ruminating on what you’ve done wrong. Lick your wounds when you have to. Then move on. Believe in your power and start becoming the person you’re meant to be.

And most importantly, do not disown your darkness. That’s the other side of your whole. You cannot be your true whole self without both your darkness and light.

Here is how you can use your darkness to awaken more of your light.

3 Ways How To Use Darkness To Awaken Light:

1. Embrace uncertainty and make fear your compass.

Seneca says the whole universe lies in uncertainty. If this is so, why not be bold in doing things that not everybody are doing?

Do what your heart wants you to do because your purpose lies within it. Yes, you’ll be scared and you will be faced with unknown territories but nobody can run away from that.

Fear and uncertainty are there for good. They’ll always be there no matter what you do, and no matter how big of walls you build around you. Just look at us know, we live in societies more protected than ever and we are more afraid than ever.

So instead of running away from fear and uncertainty, embrace them. Use them.

You feel fear only in moments that matter, moments that have a potential to make you or break you.

So use fear as a compass that shows you the direction where you can grow toward. When you are afraid just remind yourself that this is important, this matters to you. Say thank you to your fear for letting you know where you should stretch your comfort zone.

2. Use your pain to create art.

Transform your pain into immortal art, as what Ernest Becker calls the “immortality project”.

There are so many ways you can put your art into an artistic endeavor. You can write soulful songs, create inspirational movies, write a moving poetry or create life changing book. You can also support foundations or help the environment.

The purpose is to transcribe your pain into something useful, something that can inspire others. To alchemize your darkness into a beautiful fruit the world can use.

Whatever you put your hands into don’t be afraid if it’s good or bad as long as it helps in your healthy transformation.

The process may bring back the pain you once experienced, but this heroic engagement is where you actually find your life’s meaning, purpose, and significance.

3. Face your shadows and befriend your demons.

Both the worlds of dark and light exist within you. Hence, you’ll be confronted from time to time with your shadows and darkness.

While these things are commonly portrayed as bad, they are a part of your nature the same as your light. And the key to not let them control you is really counterintuitive that most people do the opposite and end up doing terrible things.

Not everyone knows that facing these inner shadows and demons, instead of running away from them, is the only way of breaking free of their grip on you.

These inner demons are produces of your wounds, and by avoiding them you hurt yourself again and again, in the same manner.

The truth is, their mere presence only suggests that there is part of you that needs healing, a kind of blockage that prevents you from moving forward.

Sometimes, by avoiding these wounds mindlessly you might even hurt other people around you who love you and want the best for you.

But if you face your shadows and demons, when you stop being scared of them, you’ll realize that they are actually messengers. They are there to show you what needs healing. They were never against you, your fear made you look at these inner forces as monsters.

Once you reconcile and heal what needs healing, they will no longer have the power to haunt you again. And the only way to do that is to love yourself unconditionally.

Loving yourself, your whole self, both your darkness and your light unconditionally, is the only way that transforms these shadows to become your best allies.