A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle
Are you actively choosing to be light?
Sometimes it feels like it’s not socially OK to be OK. It’s almost like it’s morally wrong to be too happy. You catch yourself feeling good about the world and instantly remember there’s a pandemic and this thing called climate change and that so many people and animals are suffering, so maybe things aren’t so good after all? And how can we choose to be light when this is what we know? How do we find hope in a world that is so… hopeless?
Because, my friend, it’s the only thing we’ve got.
On days when the awareness overwhelm creeps in and I’m unsure of what to do with it all, unclear if I should give in and just accept that the world is falling apart or keep fighting, I remind myself that. I tell myself that at the end of the day, this light inside me is all I have, and I remind myself that no one else is going to light it for me.
Next, I remind myself that if I choose to be light, I allow others to activate their light as well. I think of one of my favorite quotes and remember that light will always — always — lead to more light for all.
“A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle.”
James Keller
So when the guilt, worry, or fear kicks in, I remember this. I remember that I have the power to choose light and by activating that power, I become a candle in the dark room. With my own candle burning, I can help others light theirs too, and soon there will be a bunch of light where there used to be nothing but darkness. Maybe this won’t automatically make things better, but it will for sure be a whole lot easier to see the dust on the floor and start cleaning up!
We long to be able to help others. We crave the power to be able to change the world. Too easily we forget that this power lies right there, in our hearts, waiting to be activated.
Lori Ladd is a YouTuber sharing teachings on the evolution in human consciousness. Sometimes I feel called to tune in and listen to her messages and one she shared earlier this year resonated with me a bunch. She said that we humans are living inside an arena but we don’t know that we are because we can’t see the bleachers that are holding us in place. Because of it, we barely know that we’re “stuck” here in the first place.
The shadows lurking on those bleachers are jealousy, greed, fears, and other sorts of cosmically imprinted pain, shadows that have created the set of rules for how we ought to live our lives here on Earth today. No one has questioned these “rules” because we haven’t known they’re even there, which is why social injustices, patriarchy, and capitalism among other things continue to rule and conquer.
But all it takes is to shine some light on those bleachers and voila — there they are! Busted in the spotlight and ready to be questioned!
Some of us are already there. We can see the dark forces holding us back and we are so ready to take a step into the new world. We long for a time to be free and able to co-create something so much better. We know it’s possible and we know we can achieve it, as long as we become aware of those shadows lurking all around.
That is what dismantling broken systems look like. That is what straightening injustices and restructuring fragmented ideologies look like. It looks like shedding light on the shadows and telling ourselves that this is no longer OK! That we’re done playing by these stupid rules and that we demand something better.
This work is already ongoing and we must remember that this dismantling can create some disorder and chaos. Old systems are crumbling but we’re yet to create something new, so we need to be brave and stick through it — better times are coming!
And while we’re still in this arena together, we have one mission, and that is to continue to be the brightest light we can be. In doing so, we invite others to partake in that light, and together we can keep lighting up the arena around us. What’s important to understand, which Lori shared in that video, is that you can’t force someone else to see the bleachers. The only thing you can do is to activate your light and help them see it for themselves.
So that’s what I remind myself of on days when it’s hard.
I close my eyes and say to myself that I can’t control all the dark forces in the world but I can control my own light. I remember that choosing to be light is an act of heroism and that helping light someone else’s candle is a noble act, one that can ripple effect in ways you can’t even imagine.
The thing people get wrong is that our light is so sacred we need to guard it so that no one else can steal it. But that’s the wrongest of wrong! If you light a candle on another candle, the first candle doesn’t shine less? If you turn on another switch in the room, the first lamp doesn’t go dimmer? They both help make it brighter in the room!
That’s who you are in the world — another source of light that can help make it brighter for everyone. You carry this light inside you and you can choose to turn the switch at any time. I know that sometimes it’s hard and that in some particularly gloomy places, finding the switch takes a lot of fumbling in the dark. But find it. Keep looking and make it your mission to make sure that no matter what, there will be light again, and you won’t stop until you find it!
Because at the end of the day, that light is all we’ve got, and it’s amazing what we can get to as soon as the spotlights are on and the arena is a place of awakening, hope, and excitement!