Dealing With Your Demons

Many of us are haunted by personal demons. Perhaps these demons live in the past or they may be in the present but a person’s demons never seem to fully go away. People use the term haunting to describe the feeling of constantly being followed around by that which scares or upsets them. However, like a demon, you can’t rid yourself of this feeling easily. It seems to pop up when you least expect it or when it is least welcome. But dealing with your demons the only way to confront them and make their effect less scary and powerful.

A personal demon is something that seems to be uncontrollable in your life. It is something that is not desirable and unwelcome but cannot be controlled. Personal demons can range between addiction, depression, or a trauma that haunts your memories. People use the word demon because these problems are undesirable yet completely inescapable. We say that we are haunted by them because they nag and torment us behind closed doors.

Some people may think that dealing with personal demons should involve escaping or ridding yourself of them. It would be nice to just walk away from the haunting feeling of a problem but this is unrealistic. Demons are relentless. Although you can’t always be free of personal demons, one way to deal with them is to expose them. Demons thrive because they are kept secret. Not only do they make you feel alone they make you feel ashamed. Demons have huge power in a person’s life because they affect the person with their problem directly and they make them feel isolated and alone.

Exposing a demon to others removes some of its power. This may seem even scarier than dealing with a problem alone, but exposing your weakness and vulnerability makes you empowered. Admitting to a problem or instability will allow you to feel more comfortable being yourself around others and feel less afraid of slipping up or acting strangely in front of them. Exposing our demons can give you back a sense of power.

Many people living with personal demons are terrified to ask for help. They believe that exposing themselves or “airing their dirty laundry” will subject them to scrutiny and judgment from a community or family. However, very rarely can people successfully deal with their own demons alone. People need to have a guide in working through and dealing with their issues. If a person can’t admit to having a problem, no one can help them, making the situation seem worse than it really may be.

Lastly, dealing with a demon takes persistence. Think of a demon as a disease. Very rarely is a body completely cured of what ails it rather it learns to co-exist with it keeping only a slight upper hand. You have to take care of your body and mind to keep out the bad stuff. Similarly those dealing with demons need to particularly careful about maintaining a healthy lifestyle and constantly work on providing their mind with enough nourishment and protection to keep from slipping back into an unwell state. Dealing with demons is not a cure, it’s a plan.