"We must walk consciously only part way toward our goal, and then leap in the dark to our success." -Henry David Thoreau
A friend of mine had an unfortunate accident recently. Given the fall weather and the colorful leaves that come with it, inevitably the rain gutters will fill with them. The job of cleaning those leaves before the snow and ice appear becomes necessary.
So not thinking twice, he placed his ladder up against the house and climbed. What you may have already guessed is that the ladder did not remain in an upright position. The bottom slipped out and from roughly eight feet in the air, gravity did the rest.
Luckily he landed on both feet, a perfect landing in gymnastic terms. But most of us are not well-tuned gymnasts and my friend suffered a compression fracture of his L2 Vertebrae. The diagnosis is good and it will take time to heal. For now he is in a Rehab Center learning how to do all of those things we take for granted on a daily basis; like getting out of bed.
It happens that I was in the area where he lives on a business trip. So after work, I had made the decision to go visit him. I thought that a nice card and some magazines to read would help fill his days. Flowers would have been useless to him, so "Mr. Sensible" me would have to find a magazine stand instead of a flower shop.
Since this is New England, the early darkness that comes in the fall had descended like a curtain over the tree-filled landscape. So with a printed map, a GPS map on my phone, the gathering darkness and having Myopia vision (really badly), off I went.
There was no real use in bringing the maps for I couldn't read them without my reading glasses. And to put on my reading glasses meant that I could not see out past the windshield wipers on the car. The GPS map on my phone was a blur of bright light in the darkness as well. But off into the darkness I went, with a goal in mind to see my friend.
Each of us reach a point in life when we find ourselves in a similar position. Our goal is out there, somewhere in front of us and we are running out of daylight. We are scrambling to keep up with the light, trying to get as far as we can. But sometimes we need to embrace the darkness and let our other senses guide us.
The darkness is not something to be feared, it is something that merely changes the way we need to approach things. The dark may take away my clear vision, but it heightens my thoughts, my hearing, and mind. All of these other senses come to life when the light goes away. They each seem to shout out "its my turn, my turn to shine and guide me to the destination."
You have the power of many senses inside that sometimes only the gathering darkness reveals. Use them and trust them to guide you in life. Your vision in the light of day is only one-fifth of the generally known senses. There are at least four others, which would make sight an even smaller portion of what is available to us.
Rely upon everything at your disposal and not just sight. Use touch, hearing and even smells to remind you of familiar things. You have a mind that can process so many different things that soon the mystery of darkness becomes non-mysterious. Soon the darkness becomes just another path to walk on your way to those goals you have in life.
I made it to see my friend, the darkness did not hold me back. Leap out into the darkness and find your way in life. The light will return to provide additional clarity, and reveal the greatness in your life.
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