Life Lessons

Lost in the Darkness

A tale of despair, hope, and the power of light

As heavy clouds blot out the sun, your walk through the woods becomes dark and treacherous. The light disappears and you can no longer see where you are going. Nor can you find your way back to safety. The woods become a foreboding place, with foes hidden around every corner.

You flinch at every sound. You cringe away from every shadow. Breathing becomes harder and harder as terror starts rising within you. Fear grabs you by the throat. You try to fight, but how can you fight this invisible foe? How can you force the clouds to part and return the light to you? You realize that you cannot.

As this understanding sinks in, you attempt to flee instead. But there is no end to the darkness, and you are unable to find your way out. You try nonetheless. But in the darkness, these woods are deceptive and you are unable to find your footing. Roots trip you up and branches rise as giant shadows to claw at your arms and legs. Your feet stumble, your skin bleeds, your arms flail. And you are still no closer to escaping this darkness.

The heaviness of true exhaustion starts creeping into you. And with it, you recognize that you cannot fight or flee any longer. You no longer have the energy to force your way back to the light. You tried so hard, but as a final root grabs at your foot, you let yourself fall to the ground.

And there you lay, paralyzed in fear, as the darkness closes in around you. There is nothing to do but give in, and allow the darkness to consume you.

But then the clouds shift, and for a brief moment the sun is able to illuminate your world. The darkness shrinks. The foes are exposed for the shadows they actually are. The light of the sun burns away the darkness, and the terror starts to lessen. Your breath is able to return.

Your sight returns as well. You can see the woods for what they truly are. It is clear to you now that the trees are not reaching their branches out to frighten you. Rather, they are reaching out to comfort you. To hug you, to protect you, to hold you safe even.

And in this timeless moment of respite from the darkness, you allow it. You surrender and let yourself be held by the woods as you sink into its awaiting arms.

From within the safety of the woods’ embrace, you can take in the newly illuminated world around you. The stableness of the ground beneath you. The majesticness of the trees. The calming greenness of the leaves and the moss. The purple flowers daring to stick their heads out of the grass. You even get a glimpse of the path ahead.

The light has given you a gift beyond just driving back the darkness. It has shown you that there is more to your world than terror and fear. It has allowed you to see the beauty around you. It has shown you that a brighter future is possible.

Then, a gust of wind, and the dark clouds again obstruct the sun’s path to you. The light is forced to retreat. And as you are once more submerged into darkness, you tense. You get ready to fight for safety or to flee to safety.

But then you remember what the light showed you. That the foes are just shadows. That the branches of the trees are not there to harm you, that they instead want to comfort you. That you are safe, even when you cannot see the proof of this safety. That you are safe, even when the heaviness of the darkness settles back into you.

You are safe. Because inside of you, within that all-consuming darkness, now shimmers a tiny light of your own. A glimmer of hope for a brighter tomorrow.

Let this glimmer of hope give you the strength to hold on, just for a little bit longer. Just until the next break in the clouds. Just until the next moment of light.

For the next break in the clouds will come. The sun will emerge and shine upon your world once more.

And who knows what beauty its light will illuminate?

You must be here to see it.