Embodying Spirit

How to make friends with your inner monster (in a nutshell)

Posted on March 22, 2016

Help! I’ve turned into a monster.

If anyone reading this doesn’t think they have an inner monster, think again. You may have a sneaky monster who does not want you to believe s/he exists. If we don’t recognize it in ourselves, we often transfer its image onto others and it conveniently becomes all about the other guy or gal. At this point, our monster will often leak out in blame, resistance, unfriendly withdrawal, aggression that feels justified, unwarranted distrust of others, etc.

What is the monster? It is the part of us that feels powerless and small, undeserving, wounded and unworthy. It can also be hidden underneath a false sense of pride or arrogance (i.e. “I never feel small.” “I know I’m great.”). When provoked, It can and does rear up its monstrous head and declare itself in hate, rage, anger, spitefulness, resentment, jealousy and blame. It can surprise you when hurtful words fly out of your mouth before you can stop them or it can subtly leak out and have you do or say something that is just on the edge of being mean or it can act like a direct head-on collision when you intentionally say and/or do things to hurt someone.

Making friends with your monster is a solid step toward inner peace and acknowledging that your monster exists is a requirement to befriending it.

What is your monster like?