Darkest Before Dawn

Every once in awhile I have a tendency to allow a cliche to resound with me. I ponder over it, attempt to apply it to situations or challenge it. The phrase "It's always darkest before the dawn" is one that has done just that.

It would seem that when we are down on our luck or a series of events do not go our way, we can apply this type of thinking by default. I have found very recently that this is only the case when we allow it; a self fulfilling prophecy. I now classify this mindset as an official excuse but made the mistake of applying it to my life since last fall but abandoned it very recently.

If you subscribe to a particular faith that suggests of some type of divine intervention, I ask you to humbly set that aside and journey with me for a moment.

So much of life is out of our control and that is incredibly difficult to understand and embrace sometimes. Misery loves company and we allow our minds to begat the next downfall and accept it for just another heap of bad luck thrown onto the growing pile of disappointment. It is in that very moment, at the precipice of our challenges, that we either cast our hopes into faith or a needed stroke of good luck. It is in this moment that we either roll over and surrender or we stand and deliver with the unstoppable attitude that only our unbridled will can provide. I submit that for any type of personal growth, the latter is required.

Of the few good, hard lessons that life has either taught me or I have stopped to try and understand, the concept that only through struggle do we obtain enrichment is the most profound. Failure is arguably the greatest teacher of all and I have certainly sat at the front of the class willing to participate more than most. I do not steer away from that adversity as much as I used to and it is my belief that it is this action that has made me stronger.

If we are waiting for it to finally dawn, we must move east towards the proverbial rising sun. If we are wallowing in bad luck, it is time we create our own good luck. If we are curious as to the nature of the light at the end of the tunnel, we must accelerate relentlessly towards it.

Do not accept that fact that it is always darkest before dawn, instead embrace the fact that you alone have the ability to bring about what you dream of. The view of the world from your own two feet, planted firmly in soil that is fertile from your own will is the view that provides the most vivid colors from our own perseverance.