The Faithful Self was living a quiet life. She was happy, content, optimistic, grateful and as such resilient. She felt so good in her skin that no one was able to shake her inner peace.
I saw her walking down the street the other day. She was wearing a beautiful pure white dress.
Behind her, I saw a strange shadow tracking her steps. The shadow looked unusually bright, well defined. It had a bizarre, vague and cloudy gaze.
I was puzzled and curious to know who is that shadow and where is Faithful Self going. I decided to follow both of them.
Faithful Self had no idea that the shadow was tailing her. Full of energy, she was going up a mountain that was very difficult to climb. The higher she went, the bigger the shadow became. The bigger it became, the heavier it was.
She started to get tired. She did not know why. She did not know that she was carrying with her that heavy shadow.
She stopped to take a breath, to rest under a tree, to regain her strength to continue the journey. She was determined to reach the top of the mountain and make a home for her. If not today maybe tomorrow, she thought. She sat to rest and contemplate on her journey to the top of the mountain. The shadow thought that Faithful Self was sleeping. It chose to make a wicked move.
Faithful Self spotted the shadow. She immediately comprehended why she could not continue the journey.
She looked at the shadow and said:
Why do you follow me?
When you are despised by me
You are the waging storm
That destroys all that breathes peacefully
Return from where you came from
By my side you cannot reside.
The shadow replied:
I am always there
Even when you do not see me
You cannot get rid of me
You are the goodness
I am not
For me to survive I have to follow you
Put a heavy weight on you
Tire you
So that I can steal your goodness
And finally become you.
Faithful Self said with a gentle smile:
They call you Betrayal
How can you carry any good in you?
You carry with you many different faces
That change color under different lighting
Your words are softer than Butter
But you carry malice in your heart
You can follow me as long as you want
I am treasured wherever I go
I will always find a shelter from your waging storm
Bits of pieces of my priceless self I can give you
The more I give the more I have
The more you take the less you have.
Betrayal stood there surprised. How can it be that “the more it takes the less it has”?
Faithful Self saw the puzzled look of Betrayal, and so she added:
To uncover the blurredness
To discover goodness
And savour blissfulness
Change your path
Follow mine
Abundance will knock your door
And as you sleep your pillow will whisper peace
Your quilt will be filled with happiness seeds
Tell me
What more can you yearn for?