You know that old saying. It’s supposed to make you feel better about the dark times you may go through.  There’s light at the end of the tunnel.  I don’t like that saying.  I don’t like it because it isn’t always helpful.  What if my tunnel is long?  What if it isn’t just a few weeks or even a few years? What if my tunnel is decades?  What if my tunnel doesn’t end this side of heaven?

There’s light at the end of the tunnel.  It used to make me sad.  Sad because I wasn’t sure I’d make it to the end of my tunnel.  Sad because I wasn’t sure how to navigate through the tunnel. It’s dark in there.

There’s light at the end of the tunnel.  It used to make me mad.  Mad because it wasn’t fair that I’m in this tunnel.  It wasn’t fair that it was so long or so lonely in the tunnel. After all, if there was anyone else in the tunnel, it’s so dark and cold that it’s often hard to tell.

There’s light at the end of the tunnel.  I don’t like it now either.  And it isn’t because some of my tunnels ended and others got bigger or darker or colder.  It’s because I found the light INside the tunnel.  There’s light inside the tunnel too, but you have to look for it.  Sometimes you have to look very hard.

I spent years waiting for the light at the end of my dark tunnels.  The problem with waiting until you get to the end of your dark tunnel of struggles is that you may lose hope along the way.  You may lose yourself along the way.  You will lose your joy along the way.

Those dark tunnels breed despair. The darkness covers the light and the joy and it swallows up your life.  You find yourself just surviving. Just struggling through to make it another two feet that day.  After years, you look back and all you can see is darkness.

If you change your mindset to look for the light along the way, your trip down that dark tunnel seems shorter, more doable.  You begin to notice the fireflies in the tunnel with you, the sunlight that pierces through from the end to where you are.  You notice the overhead lights along the way.  I may not feel I can make it all the way to the end, but I can make it to that next overhead light.

Now you begin to see the beauty in the tunnel, the lessons along the way, the opportunities presented, and the growth you have experienced.  All this can happen before you ever reach the end of your tunnel.

Know how I know?  I’m still in my tunnel and I see you…here…reading my words.  I see my blessed family…by my side.  I see the light the Lord has shining down through the tunnel walls to reach me where I am.

Look for the light INSIDE your tunnel.  Look for the beauty there, right where you are.  You can make it one step at a time if you look for the next light.  Who knows.   You might even find joy in the dark.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

If you’re not already subscribed to my mailing list, click here to learn why you should be!