Bringing light to our darkest days

Light equates to hope. So when someone cries over “dark days,” you know what they fear losing. But if you ask me, light – hope – only gets snuffed out by choice. There’s a lot of darkness going around these days, so let’s talk about it…

Happens all the time. Mulling over what to write about, I say to myself, “Not THAT.” “THAT” is nosediving morals and values, easy to come by meanness, the ruination of our children and teens, and other unfortunate realities.

Actually, it would be easy to write about any of them – I’d like to. However, I’ve always considered Chipur a haven for those already up to their necks in conflict and pain.

And it’s not as though readers are unaware.

Truth is, “that” is inescapable. “That” influences mood, anxiety, and peace of mind. “That” is all too often the puppet master of the day. “That” is a shame.

For instance…

Her “dark days”

Some time ago, a woman commented on the article, Are you suicidal? Someone you know? Read this. It was posted on the Chipur Facebook page.

She wrote about seeking peace, comfort, and guidance through prayer; and allowed as how God was her only true hope for her life’s journey.

She ended by saying her faith is being tested. By what? “…my emotional/mental state in these dark days!”

In reply, I confirmed that all of us are presented with major tests. And I said that working hard and holding onto faith is how we make it through. And we will, in fact, make it through.

I told her I was glad she opened her heart because people need to know they’re not alone. In closing, I thanked her for sharing her spirit. And, acknowledging her dark days, I assured her the light shines brightly.

She thanked me and said she needed to hear what I had to say. She then passed along God’s blessing. It was a sweet exchange.

“The light shines brightly.” How do I know?

So the woman wrote, “…in these dark days!” And taking into account her entire comment, it’s obvious she’d been struggling.

She was comforted by my reply, saying she needed to hear it. But you could fairly ask me…

“Where do you get off telling her the light shines brightly? How do you know?”

Now I’ll ask you something. In the midst of dark days, do we always see things as they truly are?

Many of us believe we’re eyeballing things accurately. But maybe it would help if we considered this more a matter of perception.

And, fact is, perception can be a product of all sorts of things: personality characteristics, belief system, and cognitive distortion, to name a few.

So who knows? The woman’s observation of “dark days” could be grounded in, say, being naturally pessimistic, a belief system that may need a shake-up, polarized thinking, and/or overgeneralization.

Any of them can alter the view. And when two or more are at play, reality itself may be called into question.

That’s why I boldly told her the light shines brightly. She may not be able to see and feel it just now – I get it. But the light – hope – didn’t suddenly get snuffed out. In continues to shine in another dimension. She’ll reconnect.

How to bring light to our darkest days

You know, I’m thinking this may not be about bringing light to our darkest of days. Perhaps it’s a matter of rediscovering light that never really went away. Like I just said, it continues to shine in another dimension.

And reconnection is a much easier task than discovery.

That being the case, I’m not going to complicate your life by presenting “x” number of ways to bring light to your darkest of days. Actually, it’s much simpler than that.

Take the time to have a little chat with yourself, asking these questions…

• Is it really possible that light permanently went bye-bye?
• Given the distress of dark times, is it possible that things such as personality characteristics, belief system, and cognitive distortion may be peaking and causing an altered view or questionable reality?
• Knowing that I deal with a mood or anxiety disorder, what’s been my experience with altered views and questionable reality?
• Could my perception be wrong?

When the chat’s over, objectively re-evaluate the validity of your dark days. Sure, I know what you’re feeling, but is light truly forever lost?

Let’s close

As you work through your dilemma – not to minimize – I’m thinking you’ll come to know your circumstances likely aren’t as dire as you may think.

And when the dots connect, on comes light – and hope. It may not be shining as brightly as you’d like but give it time. Before you know it, you’ll be soaking it in.

How can that not be true?

Hey, those Chipur articles. Plenty of emotional and mental distress info and inspiration available.