How to Keep Going When You Can’t See the Light

(I wrote this piece several years ago during a really difficult period of my life. I hope it provides you with the encouragement, empowerment, and comfort it did for me. When I wrote this, I was holding on to hope. Posting this today, I am grateful I did.)

For This Moment

You, stop.

Just stop for a moment and take a break.

Close your eyes and allow yourself to be taken away. Let your mind drift off into a vacant grass meadow sprinkled with vibrant, colorful wild flowers.

Perhaps you see the whole field at once or maybe the flowers start to appear little by little until they span to the end of your mind’s eye. There is no wrong way to imagine as long as you give yourself permission to enter this unrestrained realm of possibilities.

Go there and just wait.

For this moment, you are completely void of responsibility. The meadow wants nothing of you. The goal of being in this place is to simply exist without purpose. This concept might seem strange at first, but come into agreement with the peace of having absolutely no expectations for yourself. Let your mind release the chains of answerability.

For this moment, nothing else matters except being present in an abandoned space of beauty and silence.

Take a deep breath.

Let the fresh air drive out the cares and captivate the emptiness that longs to be filled. As you exhale, listen for the audible rush as you let go of the life you feel consumes you.

For this moment, you are free from that life.

Deeply breath in new life and feel it course through every fiber of your being. Take your time and give this process permission to refresh your mindset.

As you find yourself lost in the luscious freedom of unbridled imagination, notice the field around you. The feathery grass and the delicate flowers effortlessly scattered from end to end. They do not compare themselves to the others around them. Instead, they focus on their own journey by digging roots beneath them and pushing upwards towards the sun.

Each and every creation in this meadow began in a darkened void that once buried them.

They could have chosen to stay this way, but instead they wanted more for themselves.

They did not know how deep they were or how long they it would take them to reach the surface. However, they knew something better was waiting for them. Blindly pressing forward, these tiny seeds searched for freedom from their dark oppression. The warmth of the sun beckoned them onward as they get closer to breaking through.

Know this: No matter how long that sprout takes to get to the top, the sun never ceases to show up each morning.

The ground is hard and the effort is tiring, but once breakthrough occurs the seed will have gone through a change they can never return to.

As you look again at the meadow full of life, realize now that you are no longer alone in an empty field.

All around you is evidence that no matter how dark; no matter how hard the journey; no matter whether you can see the light or not, there is something better if you only give yourself permission to believe the sun will rise each morning just for you.

For this moment, believe in your ability to break through.

For this moment, believe your barren field can become a prospering meadow.

For this moment, believe that oppression cannot stop you from growth, but can be the foundation you drove your roots into.

For this moment, believe that the effort put into the breakthrough is worth the life waiting for you once your face hits the sun.

Breath in the life-giving air that surrounds you and soak it in once more time.

Now, open your eyes and start living your life for this moment.