If you curse the darkness, will you benefit from it? No, you just get all worked up over something that you could easily have solved.
Everyone faces situations in life that may have the tendency to frustrate them. It is not possible for man to accept everything with a smiling face. Complaining is the natural way of dealing with those situations, but maybe there is another better way.
From a tender age I have been listening to the proverb, “It’s better to light a candle than curse the darkness” but the meaning of it dawned on me when I started observing the things around that did not appeal to me. No amount of grumbling and frustration would set things right. Such blocks were only obstacles in my growth. And it was very important to have the right perspective. Instead of complaining, if I tried to do something good about the situation, it might just make it a lot easier for me. Instead of having all negative thoughts about the situation, I could try to look at it through a positive angle. There is always some way to find a positive meaning from even the most difficult situations you face. If you watch the television advertisements carefully, you will find that certain ads do project empowerment and what we can do for others. These are small reminders by some conscious people that every individual needs to be a radical of change. Social revolution is the need of the hour.
If one looks at the world around, there are times when one feels disgusted and . Every day the newspapers seem to be flooded with news about racial discrimination, human trafficking, child labour, rapes and cruelty to women. We read, comment, shout out for justice momentarily and then it’s all over till one more such scary incident emerges. This form of uproar usually ends up with no result. If one would like to see a change one needs to begin from oneself and now is the time. Firstly, instead of talking about it, protesting on roads, instigating people, one could show concern by making people aware about their safety and how to work towards it. The educated masses could take up this challenge and speak on a one to one basis, get people together, make them aware about the ways in which one could be safe. When the papers begin to print articles about equipping oneself with safe measures, the poor or illiterate do not benefit from it. It’s up to us to get people together, form groups for such good causes and plan how to equip people and children with strategies to keep themselves safe. Students could grab this opportunity to conduct sessions for the youth in colleges, children in schools and adults at offices and social gatherings.
Light usually symbolizes hope. Hope relates to positive thinking and will help you face the difficult situations you are in. Saint Francis of Assisi once said, “All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle.” It means that however big your problem is you shouldn’t worry about the size of your problem because no problem can ever completely bring you down. All you need is a little hope. A candle may not necessarily guide your whole way but will light up all the area around you. In the same way, the little hope you have may help you face the tough situations, it may not be able to eradicate the entire situation but will give you the strength to survive it. So, instead of complaining about the situation, being hopeful about a positive ending will make a huge difference.
As Marsha Sinetar has truly said –
Life’s ups and downs provide windows of opportunity to determine your values and goals. Think of using all obstacles as stepping stones to build the life you want. So all these opportunities are meant to build a world of our choice.
So in short-
Determination and not disgust is what we need to carry within us.
AUTHOR : Hazel Cardoza
PUBLISHED BY : JASNEET SETHI
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