Life is a journey.
It’s a journey filled with all kinds of experiences of joy and pain, happiness and sadness, love/hate; and at times, it seems as if those painful experiences will never dissipate. They just won’t go away. They are relentless and they can run deep.
Nevertheless, despite long, dark nights, we must persevere; we have to hold tightly to hope – a hope that the long, dark night will soon be over replaced with joy, peace, love.
One definition of dawn is “the first appearance of light in the sky before sunrise” another is “a beginning.” When the sun is visible in the early morning, dawn emerges with the gradual, appearance of light in the sky, beautiful oranges, soft blues and yellows signaling the start of a new day. Remember though that even if the sun is not visible, even if you don’t see it, we know that the sun rises every day. It’s there – every single day. If it wasn’t, I believe we would have been informed, at least by the media! The same applies to our experiences here on earth. A new day, a new way of life, a new beginning is there within reach even if you don’t, at this present moment, see it.
The reference to ‘long, dark, night’ doesn’t necessarily refer to a chronological period but to experiences. Your new dawn may come the next day, in a few months or even years.
Your long, dark night might be an addiction, an abusive relationship, depression, problems with children, relationship difficulties, or loneliness. It doesn’t matter. What does matter is that whatever it is it can change and as it does, a powerful, new, bright light will shine through. It’s already there even if it’s not visible.
The new life doesn’t usually emerge automatically, but requires some type change such as new beliefs, thoughts, or behaviors. The new belief could be – “I’m worth more than this” and that leads to taking steps toward a different life. The new thought could be “I’m helpless in this situation” which could lead to taking determined steps (behaviors) to ask for help. Or, it could be “this really isn’t me – I’m living somebody else’s life” leading to taking steps to find out who you really are. It could be “I am so tired of this” and you take steps which indicate that you really are so very tired this time.
Life is a journey. We will, and have all experienced long, dark nights. But, that doesn’t mean it has to remain that way. A new dawn is right there. Take the step. Follow the new belief, the new thought. Sometimes, it takes counseling to help you identify the issue and to take that next step.