Duly Noted: This Little Light…
1By Jarrett in : Duly Noted, Jarrett Hill // Oct 30 2011
You ever hit a light switch and the instant the lights illuminate the room there’s that dreaded flash telling you your light-bulb is now a dark-bulb? I hate that too.
A couple of months ago this happened when I went into the kitchen; lucky for me it was a lighting fixture that had more than one bulb and I was able to do what I had to do, planning to replace the light after we’d gone to the store and bought some more. Well, I was broke that week and light-bulbs weren’t a priority, especially when there was enough light to be just fine.
Well, days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months that the light had been out. In all honesty, I’d forgotten in only a day or two that the second bulb in the overhead fixture was out, because it still lit up the room when I hit the switch. Until a few days ago.
My roommate came home and told me that she’d forgotten to tell me that there were new light-bulbs in the closet and because she couldn’t reach the lamp in the ceiling (she’s about 4’16″, give or take), whenever I could get around to it, here were the bulbs. So, a few minutes later, I’d finished what I was doing in the kitchen and grabbed the box. I turned off the light, screwed in the new bulb, and hit the switch and was blinded by how brightly lit our kitchen was, once again. I’d not even realized how bright the light in the kitchen could be because I’d forgotten and then gotten comfortably used to the lesser light of the room.
You know where this is going, don’t you?
How often do we settle into our lesser light because we’ve simply forgotten how bright we really can be, instead of just how bright a light we may be right now. How many places in our lives are giving us the full potential of the brightness we want, need, deserve or are worthy of, solely because we just forgot that there was more to offer; because we didn’t ask for a little more; because we’ve gotten complacent in the dark.
I remember looking at a full moon one night and being fascinated by how bright it was outside because of the light it provided the night sky. After staring at it and thinking for a while I thought of how the light from the moon was actually a reflection from the light of the sun. Then I thought it was pretty powerful analogy.
The light of the sun is so bright that something that merely reflects it’s light, from millions of miles away, can still light up the night of the entire world.
Where are we operating in dim light and where are we shining our brightest? Is our light shining bright enough that when reflected off of someone, it lights up someone else? Think of the simple passing along of a smile from one person to the next. How bright is your light? Is it as bright as it can be, or have you blown out a bulb and forgotten to replace it?
Duly note it, make the necessary change, and brighten up your life – or maybe even the world.
j.
What do you think – comments welcome!
PS: I know someone was waiting for a “this little light of mine: reference, but… I just couldn’t. :-) Now go light.
Perfect analogy, J — and an additional thought: its important to remember to replace the bulbs when they go out so you CAN continue to shine brightly. #selfcare