Life is a journey made up of each of the steps we take. Each stretch has its time and each space has its moment. As human beings, it is common to want to free ourselves from the stones and the obstacles which litter our path. Nevertheless, not having these troubles can lead to a stale existence lacking essence.
On our journey, there will be times when we go through gardens filled with magnificent colors and wonderful smells; others will take us into pitch black darkness erasing any existence of dignity. When we are in the middle of a deep dark tunnel, we look for a light which will show us the way to escape the toxicity of our own thoughts enabling us to face another day.
Even in the light of day, it is possible to be surrounded by gloom where dismal thoughts torment our being and extinguish our own inner light. When we are in the midst of a shadowy darkness, we seek the answer to the question which hangs constantly in the air:
What can we do?
Do the following exercise:
Think of an event in your past which tormented at the time but is now somehow resolved. Let go of today and all it implies with your current worries and preoccupations, and fly away to that other place in time when perhaps you felt the best solution might be to end it all and leave this world with a one-way ticket out.
Have you ever felt this way?
It is something most of us have felt at some time or another. The truth of the matter is that he who has not felt the profound desolation of desperation will find it almost impossible to appreciate the serenity of tranquility.
Continuing with the exercise, relive the experience and recall what you felt at the time. Now consider the following:
If everything turned out satisfactorily, you were able to see the light which you longed for at the end of the tunnel. If not, and even if it wasn’t the result you wanted, you still found a different light at the end of the road. Perhaps it was not the light you wanted or expected and quite possibly you found a different light leading you to another tunnel and taking you in a different direction.
On our journey, we find light which opens doors to marvelous places with bright brilliant colors, and also other roads which are dark and dangerous. The variety and color of lights which guide us is infinite. On us it depends if we will follow a light leading us to 
understanding and happiness, or if we will follow a mere reflection taking us hopelessly toward a life fraught with tension and strife.
In either case, there is always a light at the end of the tunnel, even when it isn’t the one we imagined. One such light can be seen each morning on the eastern horizon as the light which has remained constant since our very first day of existence makes its daily appearance on its non-stop trek. It is a privilege to be able to appreciate the bright light of the sun which rises daily giving us the energy we need to escape from the deepest and darkest of tunnels and arrive at a destiny filled with beauty and splendor.
∞ Rob McBride ∞
LL III 43