Fear of the inner monster

Fear of the inner monster--most of us fear looking too far inside.I used to be afraid to look too far inside. I was afraid of what I now call the inner monster. I didn't know what this inner monster was, but I was afraid that it was something dark and terrible--something I would be very ashamed of. But when I looked inside, I didn't find a monster at all. I just found many interesting parts--a little boy, a baseball player, a scholar, a brother, a psychologist, a lover, a philosopher, and much more.

Many clients have the same sort of fears about looking inside. They are afraid of finding their own personal monster. They may fear that their basic nature is "selfish," "evil," "dirty," "weak," "stupid," "crazy," or "sick." However, after intensively exploring the inner cores of hundreds of clients, I have not found one monster! Not one rotten person!

People don't find monsters--they find outdated or limited beliefs. When we find the causes of our problems, we don't find "sick" inner parts; we find old assumptions, old beliefs, old expectations, old commitments, or old goals that we now see as limited.

We feel excited about finally finding the inner causes of our problems, and we want to change these old parts of ourselves. The result of self-exploration is not horror at what we find, but relief that it is not nearly as bad as we feared--and peace at discovering the truth. That relief gives way to enthusiasm as we open new life paths to explore.

If you fear finding inner monsters, you will feel anxiety whenever you look inside yourself or question some established belief. You can replace that outdated belief in inner monsters with a better metaphor.

"Solving the inner mystery" metaphor. I love to watch good mysteries. Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot is one of my favorite detectives. Sometimes, I think of psychotherapy as Poirot finding clues to discover "who dunnit."

Instead of thinking of self-exploration as a search for inner monsters, think of it in terms of your favorite discovery metaphor. Think of self-exploration as being the detective in an exciting mystery movie. Or, think of self-exploration as your being a scientist trying to discover a major new insight into human nature. Learn to replace those old fears of looking inward with a sense of adventure, curiosity, and excitement.

"Looking for buried treasure" metaphor. The process of self-exploration is not like looking for an inner monster, it's like looking for buried treasure. You may find inner roadblocks you didn't know about; but you will find at your core that you care about yourself and others. You will find you care about many higher values such as truth and beauty. You will find new sources of interest, competence, inner strength, and motivation. You will find that you have more potential for success and happiness than you ever realized.

If you've been afraid to look inside, because you're afraid of finding an inner monster-- that's really sad. Because your fear has kept you from finding what's really inside-- a beautiful, loving human being.

From the book, You Can Choose To Be Happy, Tom G. Stevens PhD

Buddha Chris and Self Health Maryland are Setting off on a journey to build the knowledge and understanding of what is, what ever it is, and how we can get through it to find happiness. We have gained permission from Professor Stevens on implementing the strategies that are found in his book and we are inviting you to follow along and gain knowledge and understanding of those strategies. thanks for your time and we hope you can use our content to better yourselves or get through any struggles you may have, finding our ultimate goal of happiness. We Hope and Pray for everyone on their journey through time that there futures are long prosperous and happy. Through positive thinking and good peopling we can make a difference in the world and show that good things can be accomplished anywhere by anyone and that happiness is available to all that seek it. Thanks for the read we hope your enjoying the ride