I stormed out of the office in a haze. I was furious. Before I realized it I had walked through the parking lot and found myself in the car. I knew that I needed some time alone. I cranked up the car, sped out of the lot and within a few minutes was heading west on Interstate 70. An hour later I sat in the forest on top of Graham’s Cave, my feet dangling over its mouth. This had always been a favorite place when I grew up, a place where I could think things through. There was something about this spot that always seemed to lift me out of my depression.
The evening sun was growing weak–as had I–yet it still managed to force its way through the trees and sprinkle the ground with patches of light. The dark black of an asphalt path, which spilled down the hill from the mouth of the cave to the parking lot, contrasted against the myriad colors of nature surrounding it and served as a reminder that even when our lives seem dark, we’re surrounded by good. I knew that I had to focus not on the gloomy events of the day, but instead, on the extraordinary things that I’ve been blessed with.
I closed my eyes, breathed deep the fresh air, and listened to the breeze whisper through the trees and the sound of leaves rustling against each other. Birds chirped and cawed all around me and a woodpecker drilled for its evening meal. The nearby waterfall, though only a trickle, played a soothing melody and was joined by the strumming of crickets. All the sounds of nature overshadowed the low hum of the interstate that was now off in the distance. This, I thought, is how I should live; concentrating on the wonders of life while keeping the busyness of the world at arm’s length.
I continued to watch the sun as it struggled to ward off nightfall. It weakened and eventually collapsed to nothing more than a burnt orange crack on the horizon that split the day that was from the night that was yet to be. I realized that I too had weakened. I knew that, like the sun, I had to acquiesce. I had to put this day behind me, but as the sky grew darker, it seemed to drag my soul with it. Suddenly, in the midst of the dark blue sky a single star appeared, then another. Before long the sky was black, but it was filled with tiny mirrors that reflected sunlight cast from the other side of the horizon. It continued its fight. It refused to give up. Despite the fact that it initially seemed to have lost its battle to night, the sun managed to sprinkle the sky with light, just as it had earlier sprinkled the forest bed. The darkness had no hold over these millions of shards that hung in the heavens and neither would it have a hold on me.
I rose from my position atop the cave and began my descent with renewed hope, encouraged that no matter how dark and treacherous life may be, it’s full of bright spots. I have a choice each day; I can focus on the dark, or I can focus on the light. I choose the light. I choose the good things in life.