In school days, we the kids used to pray to the almighty to take us to the light from the darkness.
Darkness was the villain and the light the hero. We were taught to chase the light. Sun was glorified for ending the darkness.
But then I wondered, where is the darkness and what is the source of it. To my utmost surprise, I found that the darkness never exist in reality.
What? Even my mind was shaken for a moment. But yes! That’s my truth, I realised.
As we know that it is the Sun which exists. Sun is the source of all light we experience. In fact, it is the light.
It is the earth which keeps rotating. When it faces the Sun, it experiences the light but when it faces away from the Sun, it calls it the darkness.
So, what would we say? In reality, only the light exists and it always exists. Sun is there; fixed at its place. There is nothing like another star which is the source of darkness.
Thus, only source is of the light and not the darkness. If the earth is able to face it, it calls the same thing light. But if the earth is not so fortunate to face the Sun, it calls the same thing the darkness.
Very very simple. The light is termed as the darkness when we are showing our back to it. We term the light as light when we show our face to it.
So dear friends! Life is also the same. We often crib and say that I am going through a dark phase.
When I hear someone saying, ‘I am going through a dark phase’, I am concerned but not worried. Because, at least the person knows that it is just a phase and every phase passes.
But I am worried for the friends who say, ‘My life is all dark’ or ‘I never see the light of the day’.
But I do understand! Friend, there are times in our lives, when we have our moments of self doubt. When we feel as if we are in the ocean of darkness. Where there is all gloom, sorrow and misery.
But my dear friend, we need to then remember that in reality, darkness is non existent.
Our life is like the Sun. It is the light and light only. It is our own attitudes, beliefs and morals which are like the earth. Our outlook keeps rotating like the earth around our life i.e. the Sun.
When our life is full of such situations and events which we do not want to face, we turn our back to it and then we say, we are going through a dark time.
Similarly, when our life is full of events and emotions which we want to embrace, we turn our face to it and we say that life is bright.
So, it means that if we learn to see the events of life in equanimity, we would readily face everything which life has in store for us. We would face life as it comes. There would always be light. No darkness ever.
Since our life is the Sun, it has only light in it and that to the white light. As we know, all the colours lie in the white light. Similar are our lives. A white light. It has all the colours in it. Which colour one sees at a moment depends on the prism one uses at a time and the angle it is placed at.
So, what we really need is to change our attitudes and outlook. We need not chase light, we just need to rotate ourselves a bit.
If we neither crib for something nor do we averse, then we would face the life head on. And then there would just be light and only light.
It doesn’t mean then that there would all be good in life. Yes! There would be hardships, struggles, sorrows, sufferings and gloom. There would all be that as was before.
But then you won’t say that if this was not there, it would have been better. Rather you would understand that purpose of life is not to averse pain but to live upto every experience which it offers.
Every dot connects in hindsight. I often say that the life would keep throwing colours. All sorts of colours. But in the end, all the colours of life would join to make a beautiful and unique painting of you, at least an abstract one.
Think of this my dear friend. If there was never the experience which we call misery, would we ever know what joy is?
If you were never thirsty, would you know what the water is? If you were never suffocating, would you ever know what the air is? If you were never shivering in cold, would you ever know what the fire is? If you never see autumn, would you ever see what the spring is?
So friend, never ever feel that your life is all dark. Rotate a little, you will find yourself in light.
Sun never rises, Sun never sets! The only question is; do you rise up to the Sun or keep yourself set up to the Sun!
-TARUN GOYAL
That’s a very inspiring and eye-opening take on life, Tarun. Going forward, no matter how tough the situation is, I will never see it as a “dark” one.
In particular, these words of yours moved me:
“If you were never thirsty, would you know what the water is? If you were never suffocating, would you ever know what the air is? If you were never shivering in cold, would you ever know what the fire is? If you never see autumn, would you ever see what the spring is?”
Keep Doing Good Stuff
Loved it Tarun. Keep writing and sharing.
Alok.
My gratitude brother!