By: Joel Cochran

Ever heard of a “junk drawer”?  Maybe even a “junk room” or a “junk garage”?  This junk space is designated for all the things that we aren’t really sure what to do with or just don’t really like because it’s not nice enough or doesn’t serve a purpose in our life at the moment.  So we just pile it in a general spot out of site from friends, family and even yourself.

The problem is that we continue to pile things into that same spot and it starts to overflow to the point that you don’t want to open that drawer, door or garage because then you would have to face the facts, and that’s not pretty.  So instead, we focus on keeping everything else in our house or yard neat and tidy so that anyone that comes over or walks by sees the best parts.

Sounds familiar doesn’t it?  The problem is that this physical junk spot  doesn’t stop at our house or in our car, it continues into our minds, emotions and even into our training.  We all carry around junk from our past that weighs us down, holds us back and even isolates ourselves from others.  So why carry around this junk? The reason lies in the darkness, like all the random junk that sits in your drawer at home.  

We don’t want to expose our darkness to the light, that type of vulnerability could lead to humiliation, judgement, embarrassment and even shame.  Keeping our darkness hidden, keeps us safe from all of those things and who would want to see that anyways? So just like our junk drawer we keep everything hidden to save face while we direct everyone’s attention to what looks nice and neat, still knowing what remains.  

Days become weeks and weeks become years, before we know it we don’t have any more space for our junk and it starts to spill out into the spaces that once use to be neat and clean, exposing our darkness to the light without our control or consent.  We are then forced to face the hard truth and start to clean the mess that we created.

The thing is, it doesn’t have to end that way.  You have an option that is available to you right now at this present moment…. Go into the darkness.  Face whatever junk you have in your life head on, be honest with yourself on how it got there and know that clearing it out won’t be easy.  Triple down on your weaknesses and don’t be ashamed to admit when you are wrong, and be willing to ask for help when you need it. When you lay down your pride, you find that there is power in vulnerability because there can be no growth without weakness first.

So whatever you may be facing, however hard your circumstances are or were, know that you are not alone.  We all have our own junk drawer in many different areas of our lives, from broken relationships in life to feeling weak or inadequate in the gym.  Whatever it may be, the solution will always be the same hard truth, we must walk into the darkness before we can see the light.

Embrace your weakness and let it become your strength, dive head first into what scares you and fight like hell every second that you are there until you come out on the other side.  It may last only a few days or it could last years, but remember that whatever it may be it will only be temporary before you become stronger and turn what once was junk into personal treasure.