No Light Without Darkness: Appreciating the Past

It was early in the morning and I was brushing my teeth before attending a book club meeting. Suddenly the bathroom turned purple. I looked out the window, and surely, the whole sky was covered with a beautiful light of dawn: aurora.

My thoughts stopped for a moment and I absorbed the beauty. Never before during our year long stay in the house had this happened. 

It then hit me that had I switched on the light I would not have noticed the purple dawn. Even more importantly, had it not been for the preceding cold, dark January night, I would not have been able to appreciate the lavender light. 

All of us have had dark, unpleasant experiences in the past: events caused by ourselves and other times when people have done us wrong. 

However, without those incidents we would have no comparison to where we are today. Maybe you got out of a mental health pit, and you are now able to appreciate and admire your own strength and a healthy life? 

Perhaps you were bullied at school, and later learnt how to build up your confidence and not accept abuse from others? 

You might have left an unhealthy relationship and now feel gratitude for being happy alone (rather then unhappy with someone else) and for leaving space for a better suited partner to fill. 

Without any of the preceding events above, we would be less likely to appreciate the glory of today, and how far we have come on our journey. 

Let this be an inspiration when dark times hit: I am being prepared for a better tomorrow. 

Lots of love, 

Hermine