Already, as this new day begins, here in Oregon, three more minutes of daylight have been added to our 24 hours. There is much we cannot be certain of in this world, but one thing we can be certain of is that each day is longer or shorter than the next. At this moment, we gain ever more daylight. We have experienced the darkest day. It is behind us. The promise unbroken, light is returning.

When we are in alignment with our true selves, grounded in a peaceful existence, understanding how to navigate with loving-kindness and integrity, we find true contentment, and our lives work much like the promise of the seasons. We know that so long as the Earth keeps revolving around the sun on its tilted axis, the cycle of the seasons will continue. That is something we can be certain of.

This fact of astronomy didn’t come about without exploration and century after century of astronomers and physicists building upon each others’ work, beginning in Ancient Greece, moving on to Copernicus in the 16th century, then to Galileo and Isaac Newton in the 17th century. Those are just a few of the minds who brought to our awareness how and why all that we know and understand, without doubting that winter follows autumn, autumn transitions us out of summer, and so on and so forth.

When we do the work of knowing ourselves, of understanding how all the ‘gadgets’ work within our being – our emotions, our mind, our nervous system, our physiology, we no longer fight our rhythm (as much of what we find will be unique to each one of us). Instead, we embrace it, cherish it, and work with it.

From honoring our grief to understanding our menstrual cycle and then menopause, to knowing how to nourish our bodies with efficient food and drink, these examples and many more, when we comprehend how they work, we give ourselves the key to driving our life not only effectively, but with peace of mind and joy in the journey.

When we let go of denying how we are feeling and stop fighting what we cannot change, we avoid suffering and start savoring all that we’ve been given, all that we’ve created, all that is right here but won’t be forever.

More light may have begun to literally fill our days, but the dark isn’t bad or scary when we understand what’s happening – it is simply the Earth, due to its axis being tilted, revolving to a point that is at a greater distance from the sun. That’s it! The dark only becomes scary when we are ignorant of what is happening.

Choosing to live fully now, love with an open heart now, be courageous now, means that when the dark arrives, we cherish the time we had in the light, knowing that we lived and loved deeply and sincerely. The longer the nights, the more time to be still and remember how we’ve lived. Being given time to reflect and assess, if we haven’t been brave enough to live fully and be loving, now is the time to start changing our ways.

The promise of returning light is something we give ourselves by being a student of life and engaging with it. Much like a lightbulb switching on, the light returns when we choose to take the time to understand. The darkness in our own life journey during different chapters in our life is never permanent, so long as we take the time and conscious effort to realize what we’ve been given and what we are being asked to understand. The speed at which the light returns may be immediate, or it may take its time, like the easing out of winter into spring, but it will come when we turn to alignment with our true selves. That is guaranteed.

SIMILAR POSTS YOU MIGHT ENJOY

Thoughts on Winter Solstice: A Time for Renewal, A Time of ‘Great Beauty’ Waiting to Be Found

episode #347: How to Savor Christmas at Home, Alone, Simply Luxuriously

Snowflake/Star Pull Apart Bread – A Winter Solstice Celebration

~Learn more about TSLL’s Contentment Masterclass here – view the detailed syllabus, watch the trailer, and read what students who have completed the course are saying.