My Shadow

         
                                                        My Shadow
                                                    By Ryan Gerstler
I see my shadow beside me questioning what I do hurting my hopes and dream, showing me my failure and pain.

This dark figure standing behind me, always looking over my shoulder, the look of disappointment always in his eyes.

I hear his voice in my sleep showing me my worst failures and my deepest regrets with no light to break that darkness.

In my rock bottom moments and my darkest days he’s there laughing in my ear.
I try to stay in the light and hide his face but in every bright light there is a shade of grey where he stands questioning my every move and creating the darkness around me.

But on my happiest day he was there and he showed me my darkest moment but this time it was different.
My shadow showed me how my bad days could have been tragic but this day I was still alive to see him standing behind me.

I realized beyond belief that he was there not to hurt me but to strengthen my soul as I noticed that no matter how many times I felt like I was drowning, looking up at the happy world trying to scream for help as the water filled my lungs with no rescue boat on the way, yet I was still here and survived.

Even as I resented my shadow who reminded me of my failure and regrets, I never realized the amount of light that it took to create him.

Now as I follow the path of my life I won’t look at my shadow with anger or shame, but with hope because he is always willing to show me, every time I see him, how far I have come and how far I could go in my life.