Our personal demons are bad guys in disguise. The angel and devil on your shoulder are both you. They are both trying to protect you in the way they know how. Get to know them both. What’re their motivations? What’re their beliefs? What are they trying to teach you about yourself?

As I write in Flow and Taoist Psychotherapy:

By far, the biggest challenge to flow, is to embrace our demons, to allow fear to lead us to a deeper understanding of ourselves, without judgment, attachment, or distraction;
“We can enter deeper into its mystery and allow it to lead us to what is causing the fear, and ultimately, to what that fear requires to assure itself that self-expression can be both possible and useful.”

How can your fears serve you?