100 Days of Wisdom: Wisdom Day 79 – In the midst of darkness, be the light!

Wisdom Day 79

Read about the 100 days of Wisdom™ Project by Tonya Marie

Follow me on Twitter @WisdomWhispers and hashtag #100daysofwisdom for more reflections on life, love and the wisdom of Spirit!

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“When tragedy strikes, our first human response is to react in anger and with rage in our hearts, to attempt to end such dark behavior by throwing more darkness at the problem. Yet our rational minds tell us that reacting with darkness in the form of hatred and madness simply expands and multiplies the darkness. The only answer to so much darkness is to bring light. As Saint Francis of Assisi reminded us, ‘Where there is darkness, let me bring light.’”

Wayne Dyer’s Weekly Wisdom (10/29/2013)

candle_lightFrom the moment we wake up until the moment we close our eyes at night (or pass out from sheer exhaustion), it seems we’re being barraged by negativity and darkness sometimes. And if we’re not careful it’s easy to succumb to the mis-perception that darkness is winning over light.

On the global scale, there’s the financial crisis, the pompous political posturing and Congressional craziness, the saber-rattling and wars, hunger, natural disasters of epic proportion and incurable disease. And on a personal scale, physical and emotional stress, maladies of all kinds (and the treatments that sometimes cause even worse side effects), loss of loved ones, unemployment, loneliness, depression and disconnection. It’s enough to make you scream “stop the world … I wanna get off!!”

But as I say in my poem A Villager Speaks, and often quote on this site, “[u]ntil you take your last breath you will always have time to return to your place of origin and begin again.” Sometimes beginning again means having the courage to be certain in the midst of doubt, to be positive in the face of discouragement, to believe and have faith even (and especially) when all the evidence we experience with our senses says we should throw in the towel and quit.

Rest if you must …. but don’t you quit!

Staying positive and being the light in the midst of darkness, doubt and defeat is a tall order sometimes. A close, life-long friend’s struggle in the fight of her life against triple negative breast cancer that has metastasized is an ever-present and all too real case in point. But when life looks bleak, it’s more important than ever to focus on the moment, on the now. And to re-charge, re-focus, renew and SHINE! It may be cliché, but that doesn’t make it untrue: “It’s ALWAYS darkest before the dawn.”

Need some action items to turn this ideal into a reality? Here are some tips to stay positive and be “the light”.

10 Ways to Defend Yourself Against Negativity

Train Yourself to be More Positive in Five Steps (TinyBuddha.com – Simple wisdom for complex lives)

Tips for Overcoming Depression (Dr. Oz)

Listen with Your Heart: Talking with Someone Who Has Cancer (American Cancer Society)

Be well … & WISE! Tonya Marie

Post Script: This post is in honor of a person..just me @B_Still_today who checked in recently to ask what happened to my 100 Days of Wisdom project. I am excited to jump back into my regular inspirational/spiritual blogging. Because although I needed a moment to rest … I did not quit!

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Creative Commons License Wisdom in the Whisper™ and WisdomintheWhisper.com by Tonya Marie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at www.wisdominthewhisper.com.

100 Days of Wisdom: Wisdom Day 49 – Wisdom to help you get past the “sad”

Wisdom Day 49

Read about the 100 days of Wisdom™ Project by Tonya Marie

Follow me on Twitter @WisdomWhispers and hashtag #100daysofwisdom for more reflections on life, love and the wisdom of Spirit!

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“We live in a society where a high value is placed on being positive. Yet sometimes this simply isn’t possible, and people find themselves facing temporary or long-term sadness. Just telling yourself to ‘be positive’ isn’t much help, because moods can have a life of their own. One of the pitfalls of positivity is that people tend to fantasize about a perfect life instead of realistically facing the fact that no life is perfect. Everyone’s existence contains challenges, disappointments, frustration and failed expectations.

Further, what usually happens is that most of us become passive. We distract ourselves by watching more television or spending more hours on the computer. We wait for sadness to pass and we behave as if nothing bad is going on. Keeping up a good front is important in most people’s lives, yet behind the facade can lurk a good deal of fear. Instead of positivity, what’s needed is reality.”

~ Deepak Chopra ~

Sounds familiar? If so, check out the wisdom Deepak offers about concrete ways to cope with sadness and gain control over it.

Click here to access Deepak’s wisdom about getting past “the sad”

Be well … & WISE!

Tonya Marie

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Creative Commons License
Wisdom in the Whisper™ and WisdomintheWhisper.com by Tonya Marie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at www.wisdominthewhisper.com.