gratitude-a-thon day 141: light

For someone who grew up with a dad who didn’t see the glass as half full, but instead completely empty due to a global water shortage, I look for the light where I can. I see the tiniest slivers when it peeks through dense foliage. I spy the God beams that laser  through pea soup fog. I beeline to the sky that finds its way through dark, heavy drapes. Because light is good. Light is promising. Light is hopeful. So, while I do not have the innate and natural ability to see things in a sunny and positive way, I have worked at training myself to at least try and make that my first stop on The Disaster Express.

It’s not easy.

But over the years, here’s what I’ve learned: the light at the end of the tunnel, which might be a train, might just as well be a spotlight at a lavish, Great Gatsby kind of party, or a drive-in (I miss those), or the moon. See, I’ve come to realize that you can actually kill negative thinking with a bon fire, or a sparkler, or a cheap, but chic hanging lamp from Ikea.

The thing about light is that it offers you another way. A better way. It guides you when the shadows cover too much territory, and helps you see when there is a power outage of epic proportion. And if you can actually get yourself into the light more of the time, than less of the time, you’ll see, that the way you look at things is not only better, but the way you look is better, too.

So, here’s to 100 watt bulbs, and lighters, and candles that smell of verbena. And here’s to shooting stars, and lanterns and headlights, and chandeliers, and lightning bugs. Here’s to anything that can help you see your way.