#shadowself #fyp

People keep asking why they never become the thing they want. The answer is simple, they only want half of it. People say they want confidence, what they really mean is the one admiration. People say they want power, what they really mean is the one influence. People say they want intelligence, what that really means is the one respect. But once they see the shadow attached to it, confidence attracts accusations of arrogance. Power attracts accusations of intimidation. Intelligence attracts accusations of superiority. Visibility attracts judgment. And this is where people get stuck because they don't want the thing itself. The one a version of it that comes without a cost. They don't want confidence, they want confidence that no one mistakes for arrogance. They don't want intelligence, they want intelligence that no one mistakes for superiority. They don't want visibility, they want visibility without judgment. They don't want power, they want power that never intimidates anyone. But everything arrives with a shadow. You don't get one without the possibility of the other. And yet people ask for confidence and they shrink the second someone calls them arrogant. They ask for visibility and disappear the minute they're judged. They ask for the thing and then reject everything that proves he exists. When you reject the shadow, you reject the thing itself.