Light a candle in the darkness

Quote of the day: “You don’t need to worry about forever you just have to chose to use this moment to create the future instead of letting the future create you.”  from blog Skool of Life

Illumination

Today is Winter Solstice.  Here in Minnesota that means that the sun rises at 7:47 AM and sets at 4:34 PM – the shortest day of the year.  The days of the year when we get up and drive to work in the darkness and then turn around and drive home from work in the darkness are challenging for many of us.

But the dark days always end and the light does return.  Today, the solstice, is the turning.  After today, the light returns slowly, but surely.  The seasons turn, the days get longer, and light and life wake up.

The cycles of the seasons are like the cycles of life, although when you’re in the midst of a difficult cycle it is often hard to imagine that life will ever be joyful or full of light again.  Sometimes some little thing we do can light a candle in the darkness for someone who is struggling.

An unexpected kindness.. a gentle word… a smile… a silent prayer.

May someone light a candle in the darkness for you when you need it most and may you do likewise for someone else.

You can also light a candle in the darkness by living with intention and joy, by doing something you love, by being there for someone you love.  Now is the only moment there is. You are the creator of the future – now and now and now.  Wishing you a love and light-filled day.

(Thanks to Kim Klassen for her lovely texture give-aways at Kim Klassen Cafe.  For the photo above I used her texture kk_moremagic.jpg.  Layer 1 was blended using “Screen” mode in Photoshop.  Layer 2 was blended using “Overlay” mode at 80% in Photoshop.)

Here is what the photo looked like before I added the texture layers:

Candle without texture

More photoplay from today:

Three Candles (with kk texture)

Santa Figure (with kk texture)