Three Cheers for Darkness – Lessons in the Light

This week I’ve become one of the Seven Dwarfs – Sneezy.

Maybe it’s the mild winter that has morphed into an early summer, but Mr. Pollen and Ms. Ragweed, coupled with their offspring Dust Mites and Mold, are having a field day with my nose.

So for the past few nights, I have been awake at all hours of the night, sitting in the darkness feeling like two bricks are sitting on my cheeks shooting pain through my teeth while my mouth hangs open gasping for air like a fish out of water.

Not a pretty sight.

Instead of bemoaning my plight, however, I’ve learned to go with the proverbial flow.

Can’t sleep? That’s what cable TV is for.

Nose clogged up? A pot of piping hot water laced with eucalyptus does wonders for the nasal passages and the skin.

It’s looking for the blessings and the lessons in whatever comes my way.

And here’s a news flash: the lessons and metaphors are there if we look hard enough.

As Oprah and many spiritual masters admonish us, the power lies not in asking, "What did I do to deserve this?” or “Why is this happening to me?” but in asking, “What is this here to teach me?”

You see, my nickname used to be Chicken Little.

At the sight of trouble, I’d break out in a cold sweat and swear that the end was near.

This was the Big One.

Just like Fred Sanford, I would look above and announce, “God (Elizabeth), I’m comin’ to join ya, honey.”

But years of declaring that the sky was falling taught me that not only is this level of anxiety no fun for me and a drag for those around me, it really doesn’t help.

Duh.

I am so grateful and proud of myself for how far I’ve come.

I’ve learned to congratulate myself for the steps I’m taking, especially for the increasingly innate ability to find the good in every situation (major paradigm shift here).

So here’s the metaphoric lesson my sinusitis taught me as I panted in the dark:

Darkness does not come to do us in but to remind us of just how powerful the light is.

And that light is in us so we must be mega powerful.

So let’s hear it for darkness – it offers powerful lessons in the light.