A Moment Of Darkness Is The Opportunity For Light
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What would happen if you were to make a practice of habitually injecting positivity into the darkest moment of your day? What if you believed and acted as if a moment of darkness is the opportunity for light?
What if instead of turning to scrolling social media, picking up the bottle, or doing any number of other less than ideal coping strategies, you instead reframed your thinking and actions towards your own long term good?
At the very least, nothing bad would happen, but there is infinite possibility of upside. This concept isn’t wishful thinking, and although I will use the term ‘manifestation’ I am doing so in the strictly non ‘woo woo’ sense, one that need not involve any form of spiritualism (but of course it can if you want it to).
No, what I am suggesting is self psychology, leveraging the idea of priming, cognitive behavioural therapy, meditation and self-care as a way to short circuit negative and replace it with hope, and ideally an action plan.
Every Crisis Is An Opportunity
Every crisis is an opportunity, and whilst not every day will have a full blown crisis, it will always have a low point. Moments of disappointment, sadness, and let down. Moments where expectations are unmet and pain arises. Thus it seems prudent to have a way of responding when these moments arise.
The first step is to recognise that you are in a state of struggle. A dark mood has overcome you, or is threating to do so. Mindfulness meditation is a good place to start with this one. The basic practice of returning focus back to the breath trains you to observe the nature of the mind and notice when it is wandering – away from the breath or in this case, towards darkness.
Once you notice that you are in a crisis, or at risk of falling into crisis, you then need to take action. This is your opportunity for light. Do something. Be proactive. Make a choice that will help and implement it.
Specifically, you could try these short term interventions:
10 slow mindful breaths
Stretching or moving the body
Ensuring that you have eaten and drank water
Positive affirmations
Positive affirmations may seem cliché, but that is only because they are so prolific. There is something to the idea of using conscious thought to reframe subliminal thinking. I say the following to my self every day.
The first I discovered from Napoleon Hill’s book, Think and Grow Rich that has an entire chapter on the topic of cognitive subliminal reframing. Hill recites Émile Coué’s conscious autosuggestion phrase.
‘Every day, in every way, I am getting better and better’
I say that to myself morning and night. Doing so grants me a ready at hand tool that I can use in response to darkness that arises in the day. I start struggling and repeat that to myself and start to reframe the problem.
I see that, whilst bad, my current mood or issue that I am grappling with is comparatively small compared to the intensity of my own potential – this is an absolute injection of light!
The second affirmation that I use comes in the form of a collection of ‘I am’ statements that I created to best help me through dark times. I also say these every day as well as in response to dark thoughts or events.
‘I am happy. I am healthy. I am successful. I am safe. I am calm. I am loved. I am here now. I am me and that is enough!’
Long Term Crisis Management
Obviously, what we’ve been talking about here are the smaller and less impactful moments of darkness that arise every day. But what about those moments which are significant, intense and long-term crisis management is needed? Can those moments also be an opportunity for light?
Yes, but with a self-awareness and sensitivity caveat. I wouldn’t suggest you suggest this to someone else who has, or is, facing extreme issues as there is a risk of coming across as insensitive. But, when applied to yourself, you certainly can respond to even the worst moments with an internal offering of light.
Offer the parts of you that are suffering love, light, and acceptance. Those parts, for what ever reason, be it grief, or overwhelm, or trauma, are suffering, and those parts need comfort. Give it to them. Offer those parts the care they need.
This can be done with thoughts, visualisations, meditation, and, if you have a belief system, prayer.
Every Moment Is An Experience
Regardless of the severity of the darkness, every moment is an experience, one that you are having and one that is a part of your life – no matter how much you may not wish it was so.
That moment of darkness needs to be embraced and processed in order for it to not be repressed and thus in order for it not to cause future duress when it rises back to the surface.
Experience your experiences. Don’t run from them. Embrace them and process them with the full light of awareness. Inject them with light and love and feel them.
This will result in both your ability to handle the darkness increasing, as well as the severity and duration of those moments reducing.
Every Moment Is Another Chance At Freedom
Every moment is another chance at freedom. Or as Allan Watts said ‘You are under no obligation to be who you were five minutes ago’. What this concept is pointing us towards is our ability to let go. To get out of old thinking patterns and simply move on.
Yes, you are feeling darkness now. But oftentimes you are perpetuating that feeling of darkness by dwelling on it. A better response is to first realise that you are stuck ruminating and then to take actions to observe the darkness (meditation), and finally to inject it with love and light (affirmation and action!).
This process will not eliminate the darkness from your life. That is impossible. Rather what it will do is give you an actionable response when that darkness arises. A response that actively engages with life rather than repressing it.
If you want some guidance with this process, you could book a session to work with me, or check out the following free guided meditations and talks!
