Another Look at Enemies

Is this my favourite subject?

As I said before, your enemies are your best friends. They teach you what you need to know. Enemies teach you more about yourself than your friends ever will. Friends, because they like you, are more likely to collude with you. But enemies highlight your faults; they are excellent mirrors. They reflect your shadow, what you are denying about yourself; your inner conflicts. They do this because you also project your shadow onto them. Your enemies have the faults that you deny in yourself.

So conflict with enemies is a useful tool. It is an opportunity to own your shadow, to admit what you are denying, to examine and integrate it. Enemies challenge you to resolve your inner conflict because they highlight it for you – if you can put yourself in your enemies’ shoes.

If you can have compassion for your enemies, you will have compassion for yourself. You will no longer be at odds with yourself. However, if you are at war with your enemies, you will be at war with yourself. You will have no inner peace.