What Should We Do During Our Darkest Moments?
Focus so we can see the light (and shorten our tunnel).
“You’ll never see the light at the end of the tunnel if you don’t get in that tunnel.” ~ Matt Roe, via MoveMe Quotes
Most people imagine the light at the end of the tunnel—and the heavenly sights it might reveal. Few venture into the tunnel in pursuit of that light. Fewer make it far enough in to catch a glimpse of its shine. And fewer still make it to the end and realize the heavenly sights that the light reveals.
What might that light reveal? Stability, health, wealth, popularity, freedom, success? Different things to different people. But generally speaking? It represents a better life situation than the one they’re currently in. It’s the finish line at the end of a marathon. It’s the oasis that’s found from trudging through the desert. It’s the heavenly escape from some kind of perceived hell.
See what most people don’t realize about these types of tunnels is that they aren’t outside in the world to be found—they’re inside awaiting our arrival. The light that you drive into as you exit a tunnel in your car doesn’t do anything for your life. It’s the tunnel that you have to traverse inside that reveals the heavenly light of your desires.
And the length of the tunnel itself, of course, is an abstract concept that’s made up entirely by you. If the light at the end of the tunnel represents an absurd amount of money—you’ll have an absurdly long tunnel to traverse. If your light represents a comfortable, stable, happy lifestyle—your tunnel will be effectively, much shorter.
The length of your tunnel is proportional to the depth of your desire.
So the question quickly becomes: what do you desire? What does your light represent? Are you sure about both answers? How long have you made your tunnel? Can you make it shorter? Have you ever even thought about any of this? Maybe it’s time you should.
And how might you do that? By turning inward, of course. Reflection; contemplation; introspection; writing; deep thought—you must confront the darkness. The darkness that comes not from your tunnel, but from turning a blind eye. How can you see anything inside if you don’t shine the light of your consciousness there? You won’t even be able to see where your tunnel starts!
Turn the light of our consciousness inward. First, understand what your light is representative of. What is it that you most want to achieve? Then, you have to measure how long you’ve made your tunnel before you might get there. Do you really want that much money or are you actually after a feeling? Are your goals superfluous or are they justified? Is there any way you can make your tunnel shorter or is it already at the minimal viable length?
Take note, you’ll never get an exact measurement of your tunnel—it’s abstract. But, you can ballpark it by rounding down your desires. And once you’ve done the incredibly hard work of identifying what your light represents, cutting down the length of your tunnel, and have found where your tunnel actually begins… all that’s left is to take the first step.
For you’ll never know for sure what the light at the end of the tunnel will reveal until you arrive. Like an excited traveler who’s flying to an exotic destination that they’ve seen ALL the pictures for, but has never actually seen in person—the arrival will reveal all. So keep marching towards your light and persist even when the darkness seems to be its thickest.
It’s only right after our darkest moments that we start to finally see the light.