Terri's Tuesday Tip of the Week - October 20th

It is often in the darkest skies that we see the brightest stars. - Richard Evans

Sometimes when you’re in a dark place you think you’ve been buried, but actually you’ve been planted. - Christine Caine

Everyone has talent.  What’s rare is the courage to follow it to the dark places where it leads. – Erica Jong

Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light. - Harry Potter - Albus Dumbledore quotes

The dark does not destroy the light; it defines it.  It’s our fear of the dark that casts our joy into the shadows. – Brene Brown, The Gifts of Imperfection

Do you ever feel like you are in a dark place in life?  A dark place is where you do not see a way out and you think life is “doomed”.  Recently, I felt like I was in a dark place because nothing was happening.  I was doing the daily “mundane” things of getting up, working out, going to work, coming home and then repeating the same activities the next day.  It was not a bad thing, but things were not “moving”.  My dentist put it best recently when he said that if I am not at “Mach 1” I am bored.  This past week, I had movement and it was just not one thing it was many things.

First, I hit a major milestone at my company last Sunday of eight (8) years, which means I am fully vested.  Second, I have been concerned for many months about leading an event in 2016.  Two years ago, I lead the event and was not sure how well I had done.  In the last week, I had to make some difficult telephone calls thinking I was going to have a hard time based on other people’s insights, but discovered everything was fine.  Third, I had plans change in the last couple of weeks and have been fighting to stay positive because I felt I was wronged.  However, it all turned out fine because if I had traveled I would not have been able to visit with a contact while in the other city.  Instead, I had the opportunity to have quiet time, make a new friend while hanging out at the pool, work on projects, read a whole book, etc. 

I often forget that dark times are the times I grow, develop and prepare for the future.  When it looks like nothing is happening, I know that I need to focus on the light because it is definitely shining through if I will just search for it.

My challenge to you is if you get down or depressed when you do not think anything is going the way you want it to, search for the light and see the hope that is shining through. 

It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light. - Aristotle Onassis

Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness. - Desmond Tutu