Have you ever heard the saying, there’s not enough darkness in the whole world to extinguish the light of one small candle? It’s a beautiful proverb, and it gives hope to every single person who may be going through challenging times. So, if you are dealing with some adversity at the moment, I want to let you know that there is light in the darkness.
I recently found myself with a very dark mindset. I may have mentioned in a recent blog that I had my phone stolen whilst volunteering to feed homeless people on a Wednesday night a few weeks back. At the time, I was able to handle the situation with a healthy perspective, or so I thought. My attitude was, it’s only a phone, and whilst I may have left the building without a phone, the person who took it left without a home to go to. So, with this mindset, I’ve been able to be quite forgiving about the situation.
Well, a couple of days ago, it all went a bit pear-shaped. I was out doing my regular morning training. I got to my location by the water, I took off my warm-up top, folded it up with my towel, and put it in what I thought was a safe place. After I finished my training, I went to pick up my top and towel to head home, and it was gone. It had been stolen. The fact was, it was only an old training top, and an old towel, and really had no value at all. However, the fact that I had something else stolen triggered me and I spiraled into a dark place.
I was angry. If the person who stole it had just told me they need a warm top, I would’ve happily given it to them. The fact that they had stolen it, made me mad. All of a sudden, a dark film spread across and covered my eyes and heart, and as I walked home, everything seemed bad. I imagined meeting the person who stole my things and what I would say to him or her. I noticed all the rubbish on the ground and wondered why people couldn’t make the effort to put it in the bin. I thought about all the people who had been ghosting me and got angry that they didn’t have the decency to return my messages and calls. Then, I even got angry with myself for things I hadn’t done and should’ve done. Needless to say, I was in a dark place and nothing seemed good.
However, there was good news; there is not enough darkness in the world to extinguish the light from the smallest of candles. As I was explaining the situation and my mental state to my partner Kate, she sparked the light. She asked me, Andrew what are you grateful for? It was easy for me to offer a whole list of things I was grateful for, and I started feeling better. Then, she asked me, what is it about God you are grateful for? Again, I reeled off a whole list of things and felt even better. It didn’t take too long before the light from my gratitude had erased that dark film from my eyes and suddenly I could see the light and feel the joy again.
I’m not sure what it is you’re going through right now. I’m not sure what is causing that dark film to envelop your eyes. All I know is that there is something there in your life right now that can start to shine a very small light into the darkness. Take the time to think about what you’re grateful for. Invest some effort to ponder on the great things you already have in your life. Who are the people that you love and are there to support you? What are the things you’ve already done that you’re proud of? What are the things that you’ve overcome already in your life? This focus will give you confidence to know that you can get through anything. Can you see there is actually light everywhere, and that light will destroy the darkness in your life?
In my podcast this week called ‘The snowball effect’ I speak with Trea Cotton. It’s a powerful conversation about the impact of small decisions and tiny actions that will bring light into any dark space and start a snowball effect of Joy. The next time you come across a challenging period in your life, don’t forget to immediately think about what can bring even the tiniest flicker of light into the darkness.