A Light In The Woods

“There is a candle in every soul / Some brightly burning, some dark and cold . . . Carry your candle, run to the darkness / Seek out the hopeless, confused and torn / Hold out your candle for all to see it / Take your candle, and go light your world.”

Chris Rice, “Go Light Your World”

In The Dark

I grew up in the country. Beyond our backyard was a pasture, then the woods. My brother, my cousins, and our friends liked to play in those woods. One evening after supper, we ran into the woods to play a game. We were having so much fun we lost track of time and didn’t realize that it was getting late. Before we knew it, night had fallen and we were in the dark. I began running, but of course I couldn’t see and ran smack into a tree! (I suppose you could say I couldn’t see the tree for the forest.) Fortunately for the rest of us, one of the guys had a flashlight. He turned it on and then we could see him. We all gathered around and he led us out of the woods, shining his flashlight . . . no more running into trees.

Each of us has a light within and when we let it shine forth, it can be a help and a comfort to others.

You have a light — it’s what makes you unique. You have a gift, a set of talents and strengths that are innate plus skills that you’ve developed as a result of your talents and strengths. No one who has ever lived has your same combination of genes, talents, interests, and abilities. No one is more suited to do what you came here to do. If you don’t do it, it won’t be done.

An Incomplete Picture

I like to think of it this way. Life is like a great tapestry and each of us is a thread in the tapestry. Seen as a whole, the tapestry makes a beautiful picture. But if one thread is missing . . . well, the picture is still there, but it isn’t complete.

Some years ago, my family and I worked to assemble a jig saw puzzle.  My specialty was the border, because those pieces are fairly easy to pick out.  When we were almost finished, with fewer than 50 pieces out of 1000 left, it became obvious that we were missing a piece of the border.  That puzzle was never complete.  Oh, we were able to see the final picture, but it wasn’t finished.  It could never be what it could have been if the missing piece were there.

Shine Your Light

Wayne Dyer said that every child arrives on earth with secret orders. What are yours? What did you come here to do — something that no other person is as fit to accomplish as you are? You may be a great leader of people. You may be a healer. You may pick up the garbage. You may be a deep thinker, able to discern great truth. You may build things – with your hands or with your mind. You may share what you have with others. You may love children and seek to guide them and help them find their own light. You may cook delicious and wholesome food. You may be an inventor. You may work in the soil. You may do research that helps uncover new ways to make Life better. You may sell things or make things or repair things.

“The Creator,” said Orison Marden, “has not given you a longing to do that which you have no ability to do.” Purpose is not a grand and glorious thing — it’s your thing. It can be gritty and dirty, sweaty and difficult and wonderful. It isn’t something you decide, it’s something you discover.

What is your light? What do you long to do that will fulfill you and make a difference in your world? We’re in the woods and it’s getting darker. Turn on your light.

Excelerated Focus


Excelerated Accomplishment™ — achieving meaningful objectives — is one step in creating your Excelerated Life™, a life of flourishing and well-being and a life of meaning, purpose and service.

Read more about the Excelerated Life™.

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