Light and Dark

"We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark;
the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light."
-Plato

Until recently my three-year-old slept with his door open and lights on. I'd think out loud: "won't it be difficult to sleep? It's so bright." But he'd insist, I'd acquiesce, and then my husband or I would turn off the lights after he'd fallen asleep.

In college I recall sitting at the top of my dorm's fire escape at night to get the best view of The Monterey Bay and the pinhole lights of Monterey just beyond the water's horizon line. The darkness was mammoth. And as the lights pierced the night's blanket, I felt comforted by how much beauty was created through the contrast of the light and darkness against one another.

Though just as the light reassures us at night, the same holds true for needing some darkness during the day. We each carry with us some pain that helps keep us fighting for what we care about. We know that if we don't push forward, it could gain a foothold and get bigger. As long as we use it to spur us into action, we are keeping it in its proper place.

The problem happens when we use the darkness as a sort of pacifier to avoid seeing the light for what it is . . . opportunity for love and connection. We've been burned by a painful relationship. We've fallen short of our expectations when trying to acquire a skill. And we know that the pain came after we 'went for it'. But what we forget is that we've also had vast amounts of light reflected back at us that we never noticed because it was part of the brightness in our life. Only, we couldn't see it . . . as we can't see the stars shining during daytime.

We teach our kids to have a good night's rest by gradually weening them from the lights. Likewise, we need to learn to have a fruitful day by extricating ourselves from the negative and self-defeating thoughts that keep us from pursuing our goals. And just as it's ok to keep on a nightlight to remind us there's day . . . we can keep a few memories in our back pocket to remind us of the dark.

Herein lies the purpose of a coach . . . to help us get unstuck from whatever is preventing us from living fully. As a fitness coach, it is my purpose to change the balance of light and dark in a person's life through the use of exercise. Together, we put the old pains in their proper place of the past and move forward with purpose to create a life of meaning, grace, and light.

Please visit me to see how we can let the light back into your life.

- Coach Rebecca