Lights in the Dark

Daily Quote

"No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world."

-Robin Williams-

Lesson of the Day

Words can change everything. You could be going about your life, and you say maybe just one sentence to someone, and they're gone. Years later, say you find that they're happy and productive humans, perhaps they killed themselves, perhaps they live a life that they hate, perhaps they've given up. You can shrug it off, and say they made their choices, it was their responsibility. And it's true, it was all their responsibility to choose correctly. But, your words, your actions, regardless of what you wish to hear, had an impact. There is one time, in my life, that sticks out past all others. It was one of my darkest, and yet also where I found the smallest of embers, which grew into the great inferno that is my heart. Her name was Ori, and her gift one word. I was on the stage of life, my garb a mask so complex that I forgot I was wearing it.

I was an above average teen. I had nigh perfect grades, I excelled at both football and track, I made everyone around me laugh and smile and feel loved. I had many friends, and a lot of love from them and my family. Now, there's always a 'but', otherwise there wouldn't be a story, now would there? But, as happy and content as I seemed, I was hurt. I was like a car, on its last tank of gas, with parts falling off as it goes. Blind to myself, I kept walking towards the cliff. Right about now, maybe you're expecting that girl to swoop in and turn me around, but no. I'm a great actor, and, until the end there, no one knew. I walked off of the cliff, willingly, because I didn't want to see. I broke. The person I had been, he died. I kept falling farther still, alienating people, hurting people, quitting football, dropping my grades, and worse. In my fall, Ori said one sentence to me. She said I was beautiful. I gave her a weird look, unable to even comprehend that she might be right. I kept falling, until I crashed completely. When I found myself in the dark, alone, one thing kept coming back to me, stronger and stronger. I was beautiful. I scoffed at it, endlessly. Until one day, it clicked. That beauty doesn't mean perfection. That broken things were beautiful, too. That even in all of the pain and darkness inside of me, there was good and light and beauty. That was the foundation for my change, the foundation for everything I do and everything I am now. The light in the dark.

Questions to Ponder

What has changed your life? What scars do you bear on your soul? What lights up your darkness?

Gratitude

Tonight, I'm thankful for Ori, and for the lights in the darkness.