Waiting For Sunrise

"It's always darkest before the dawn."  I've always been drawn to that phrase. It gives me hope whenever things seem negative and hopeless in life. As if no matter how dark or depressing anything feels, the experience is there for the purpose of allowing me to appreciate the beauty of the more positive things that are sure to follow it. Sometimes, though, our periods of darkness in life can be so pitch black, and seem to last so long, that it becomes increasingly difficult to remember that a period of light is sure to follow.

Everyone deals with tough times differently. Some bury themselves in work or hobbies, some isolate themselves in misery to shut out the world, some become any and every crazy version of social simply to numb the pain, some even lash out at absolutely everything and everyone in a vain attempt to destroy the painful world they feel is surrounding them. The unfortunate fact is, no matter what anyone does, the only thing that will break through the darkness and alleviate the pain, is Time. It takes time for situations to run their course, time for darkness to fade into light, time for emotions to calm into peacefulness, time for storms to subside. The world doesn't stop revolving for anyone's heartache or hardships, but even that stark fact can bring hope, as it means that the sun will always rise again. All of it simply takes time, and no amount of seeking vengeance, or angry outbursts, or even burying one's head in the sand in an effort to ignore or hide, will make things right again any faster. Honestly, none of us feels like playing Pollyanna during difficult times in our lives, but are the repercussions of self-destruction, or the accidental collateral damages, worth the possible additional angst?

I honestly believe that we are all on this earth to learn positive lessons, and that each life is meant to learn specific ones. As humans, we, many times, only seem to pay attention and truly learn life's lessons when the universe unceremoniously smacks us down with them. Maybe that's why it's always darkest before dawn. To truly learn something new, and to appreciate it and the wonderful things that already surround us that we may not have noticed previously, we have to proceed blindly forward for a while. It doesn't mean that we don't fight to get through the tough times, the point, I suppose, is to make yourself keep moving forward.

I'll leave you with my favorite quote (from the immortal Dr Seuss) to mull over ... just in case you need to borrow it for a dark time in life.  "I've heard there are troubles of more than one kind. Some come from ahead, some come from behind. But I've bought a big bat! I'm all ready, you see. Now my troubles are going to have trouble with me!"

~ The Girl In The Little Black Dress