I was recently at a concert and the artist asked that the house lights be turned off. They then asked that everyone in attendance turn on their phone lights. The result was absolutely amazing! An arena of over 10,000 attendees was illuminated simply by each person shining their light into the darkness. As I watched this occur, I reflected on the power of just one light.

Those that know me know that I’m a huge proponent of mental health awareness and wellness. In fairness, that is because of my own struggles and watching those I love struggle over the years, but it’s so much more. It’s because I truly believe that I’m meant to use my own experience for good and be more vocal about it. My goal in doing this is to support those around me and let them know I’m there even if I don’t fully understand their situation. I guess you could say that purpose is to be a “light in the darkness”. Sounds fairly cliche I know, but it’s absolutely true.

Some would argue that this life doesn’t afford us as many choices and opportunities as it should. I would wholeheartedly disagree, but that is a topic for another time. One thing I’m certain of is that we are always given a choice to be kind, a choice to be empathetic, and a choice to love even those others may see as unlovable. In that, we are all given a choice of how and how often to use our own lights to provide hope, assurance, and maybe a lifeline to someone that is struggling. We are all those tiny little cell phone lights in a dark expanse of an arena. We ALL can make a difference in how this world appears. We ALL matter!!!!

To that end, what is holding you back? What are the barriers to you turning on your own light? If we all for just one moment could get past those barriers, what would this world look like? I’m surely not the wisest man on the planet, but can imagine we would all need to wear sunglasses from the brightness that would shine out of us as a collective. My friends my hope is for that. My hope is that we can all somehow find it within us to be those lights. I think we all can agree this world would be better for it.