One of the more difficult things to do as we tread along the road of life is to work on our own stuff.  We all have stuff whether we want to admit or not.  Often times many find it easier to keep busy with various external stimuli rather than confronting what some feel is the dark side of ourselves.  Make no doubt about it, the dark side can scare us and often reveal pieces of ourselves we had rather not see.  It takes strength and courage to confront our demons and invite them to dance in tune with the rest of us.  Very few of us are so spitually advanced that deep introspection would not prove beneficial.  We spend a large amount of time proving our spiritual worthiness through workshops, books, gurus, psychics, etc that we fail to look in the place where we will find the answers, within ourselves.  There is no one who has walked our exact path and our exact footsteps.  We are the ones that will guide us to our place of peace if we do the necessary work.  We must look long and deep and have the compassion for self forgiveness.  Without the capacity for forgiveness and a mature response to our dark self we place burden upon our very physical existence.  Professional therapeutic intervention can be a wonderful and beneficial asset when wounds are just too painful and deep.  We as compassionate humans deserve to know all of our parts and appreciate the gifts they bring into our lives.  Without challenges we would cease to grow and in growth we find renewal.