of mind and heart can be so overwhelming.
Thing is, it needn't be.
And yet, more often than not, it is.
Why?
Because darkness is like a whirlpool. It stays in the yard of our mind, silently, watchfully, even enticingly, and the instant we are unmindful, relax our mind, or feel that nothing can destroy our hard-won peace and serenity this time around, we fall into this whirlpool. It makes us feel that there is only this left for us....this oblivion.
But,
Living is not oblivion. One has to strive hard to live fully with joyfulness. One has to work hard at keeping the darknesses at bay.
God never promised us roses or a life without pain or that life would be easy.....but He did promise us the strength to overcome the thorns and the pain and He did promise us that He would be with us through it all, He would see us through...
Here is an anonymous poem - hope it will help us see our own light...because no matter how much a loved one holds our hand, in the end we have to fight and vanquish our darknesses ourselves.
I asked for strength.
God gave me difficulties to make me strong.-----------------------------so when we go through difficulties, believe that they are making us strong...
I asked for wisdom.
God gave me problems to solve.---------------------------drowning in problems and issues of all kinds? Believe that in solving them we are gaining in wisdom...
I asked for prosperity.
God gave me brawn and brain to work.-----------------------------------how easy life would have been if we had a little more money! But no, we can have great happiness, indeed real happiness when we work for what we want, redefining our needs as we go along...
I asked for courage.
God gave me dangers to overcome.--------------------Fearful? Afraid? Believe that overcoming fear - and this is hard work - will make us laugh in the face of all that tries to scare us and drag us down...
I asked for patience.
God placed me in situations where I was forced to wait.-------------------------how nice it would be if we achieved our goals through an easier path...maybe a little quicker too would be good. Believe that every roadblock is teaching us patience...and this patience will see us through great darknesses because we would have learnt that nothing that is good comes easy...the right answers take time in coming...
I asked for love.
God gave me troubled people to help.-----------------------oh to bask in someone's love! Believe that if this does not happen, then we are being called to lavish all our love on those who really need it to get them through their darkness...and thus drawing us out of ours...
I asked for favors.
God gave me opportunities.------------------------would be nice to receive a favor now and then...would make life a little easier... Believe that every chance seized, every moment of hard work, every contingency overcome, becomes a favor in our life...
I received nothing I wanted.
I received everything I needed.-----------------true!
Come we can do it....we have to do it alone, but knowing that every human being has his/her own darknesses to deal with and overcome will help us know we are not the only ones in our struggle to lift ourselves up and make our personal world a better world for us to LIVE in...