When Your Shadow Teaches You Something About Yourself
Feb 11, 2026
I took a photo the other day…just my shadow stretched out across the ground.
Long. Skinny. Tall.
For a moment, I laughed and thought, Was I ever actually that thin?
And then I remembered…
it’s just a shadow.
Not the real me.
Not the truth of who I was. Or who I am now.
But here’s the interesting thing about shadows:
they have a way of exaggerating, shrinking, distorting, or stretching us into shapes that aren’t real.
Shadows can make us look larger than life or barely recognizable.
And sometimes, without even realizing it, we start believing them.
For years, I carried a different shadow. The shadow of who I used to be when I weighed 300 pounds.
The shadow of assumptions people made.
The shadow of stories I told myself.
The shadow of doubt, fear, or “not enough.”
Shadows from the past that had nothing to do with the person standing in the light today.
But that long, skinny shadow reminded me of something important:
Your shadow is not your truth.
It can follow you, but it cannot define you.
It can stretch beside you, but it cannot limit you.
It can look nothing like who you really are…and that’s the point.
Every one of us carries a “shadow side.”
Parts of ourselves we’ve outgrown.
Stories we’re still unlearning.
Old identities that cling to us even as we evolve.
And yes, sometimes we can look at our own shadow and think, Is that really me?
Only to realize, thankfully, it isn’t.
Here’s the gift:
Your shadow simply shows where the light is coming from.
It shows you’ve grown.
It shows you’ve survived things you once thought might break you.
It shows the distance between who you were and who you’ve become.
And if your shadow looks distorted…stretched, skinny, tall, short, whatever shape it takes…remember: that’s just the angle of the moment, not the truth of your life.
The real you is standing tall.
The real you has earned your strength.
The real you knows the difference between old stories and new beginnings.
So the next time your shadow surprises you, makes you laugh, or brings back memories of who you once were…smile.
Because it means you’re still moving forward and the light is still behind you.
Resilience Reset: Have fun with your shadow today knowing it’s not the real you.
