Are you letting your little light shine?

Have you noticed that there’s something missing from your life – and it’s missing more and more each day? There could be a variety of answers as to what that ‘something’ is. If for you that ‘something’ is light, you’re not alone. Each day has less daylight until we reach Winter Solstice on December 21, the day that has the least light.

This phenomenon can have an adverse effect on many people. It’s called SAD, which stands for ‘seasonal affective disorder’. The irony of this disorder is that the acronym, SAD, is also often the feeling that people have during this time of year because there is less daylight. Perhaps you are one that is affected by SAD also. There are broad spectrum lights that can help people when they sit by them for a few minutes each day. Your doctor may also suggest increasing your vitamin D levels to help since we are not getting as much sunlight.

Another way to also help alleviate this sad feeling is to bring more light into our home. Recently, we were at our windows that overlook a wetland. The sun had just set. We both exclaimed “Oh look!” We saw a set of twinkling lights on the deck of a home on the other side of the wetland. It may seem like a small thing, but it brought feelings of ‘lightness’ to our life. It made us want to do the same thing, so we also strung up some lights on our deck for others to enjoy, too.

Light can be like that. It can be the ‘something’ to help raise our mood, and the mood of others. We also know that for us, having those strings of lights on the Christmas tree and in other areas of the home, helps to create a ‘cozy’ feeling, a feeling of peace and relaxation. We agree with Nora Roberts when she says, “Nothing ever seems too bad, too hard or too sad when you’ve got a Christmas tree in the living room. Just a way of saying there’s always light and hope in the world.”

Perhaps it also brings up nostalgic feelings of when we were kids and experiencing the magic of the season. As an unknown author said, “Christmas lights instantly make me feel like eight years old again.”

It was fun to hear the excitement in our son’s voice when he called recently. He said he had set up the Christmas tree he just purchased. The tree had the lights already attached. In fact, it came with a remote where he could change the colors of the lights and he was able to put the tree up in five minutes.  We could tell that he still felt the magic of Christmas lights. It didn’t hurt that technology helped ease the work in getting the tree up and lit.

Flickering candles can also bring a sense of light and life to these darker months of the year. If you have pets or children and you are concerned about candles being knocked over, here’s where technology can also be helpful There are quite realistic, flickering, battery-operated candles to help create the warm ambience.

Speaking of candles, years ago, Howard Thurman, an author and civil rights leader, said, “I will light candles this Christmas, Candles of joy, despite all sadness, Candles of hope where despair keeps watch. Candles of courage where fear is ever present, Candles of peace for tempest-tossed days, Candles of grace to ease heavy burdens. Candles of love to inspire all my living, Candles that will burn all year long.” His words still resonate today.

We sense that society is longing to get back to a time when there was less division and more tolerance; where the light of someone’s ideas could be freely explored without the danger of those ideas being extinguished because some people did not agree with them.

Let’s all try to shine our light to help understand each other. The people across the wetland didn’t know how much their lights raised our spirits. This reminds us of the words from a song we learned as children, “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine.”

What about you? What can you do to let your light shine and bring more light to others and the world? It’s not only the physical lights that we put up that help bring cheer to others, but also the spirit we share individually and as a community.  As Thomas Monson said, “If you want to give light to others you have to glow yourself.” So, Ready, Set, Glow!

Chanhassen MN residents, Doug and Lynn Nodland are success coaches and owners of The Balance Center in Excelsior. Contact them at WeCare@SharingLifesLessons.com

© Doug and Lynn Nodland 2022 Articles and videos may be shared in their entirety with attribution.