For a while now I’ve been living in a dark tunnel. I’ve been waiting for that proverbial and sacred light at the end of the tunnel to magically appear.

Sure, I’m all for DIY and I’ve occasionally tried to light my own spark along the way. I’ve read all the books, done all the courses, attended all the events to learn how to light up that tunnel. But there I’d find myself still in this dark place trying to create a light by rubbing two things together (myself and whatever sparks my interest at that moment) and hoping that spark would ignite. Most times it did. But that little spark would shine bright only for a little while and then when sizzle out and I’d find myself back in the dark again.

It wasn’t that I was depressed, or lost, or not spiritually awake. Far from it! I have been spiritually awake for many years now. But I’ve just been hiding under the bed covers as if showing the world I was awake was akin to having the boogieman find me.

When we’re spiritually awake and living in a dark tunnel, life becomes frustrating. We know we’re meant for greatness, yet we either forget to turn on the light or we can’t even see a bright light to guide us out of the dark tunnel so that we can fully step into our greatness. It feels like a catch-22 situation.

So, we read the books, take the courses, and attend the live events. We do all the things. But if we look closely enough at all these things, we’ll probably find that they’re not really our things to do. They’re the things our friends, family, peers, coaches, and mentors are doing. They’re not meant for us. They’re just meant to guide us.

It is important to understand that all these existential things that we are doing to get ourselves out of our dark tunnels, are only providing us with a guiding light, the kind of light that kicks on by a generator when the electricity fails. This light is not meant to keep us warm. It is only meant to trick our minds into thinking we are safe. These things are keeping us in the dark with just enough light to see the next big thing.

But here’s the real thing: darkness is nature-made; a dark tunnel is a man-made entity. Conversely, light is nature made; a light at the end of the tunnel is man-made (or woman-made, or person-made).

And unlike people, nature can be very forgiving and very generous. Nature doesn’t judge us or try to hold us back from stepping into our greatness. Nature actually works with Spirit to provide us with enough back-up lightening for us to keep moving out of that dark tunnel at our own pace.

Instead of trying to light up our own dark tunnel, we need to become aware that our friends, family, peers, coaches, and mentors are probably living in a dark tunnel all of their own makings. Then we need to use all the information and lessons we have learned by doing all the things, to help them find their own light. When we do this, our light at the end of our dark tunnel will slowly start to reveal itself. Our eyes and minds need to be slowly accustomed to bright light. Otherwise, no matter how bright the light is around us, we’ll still be in the dark because our eyes will be shut to shield us from that brightness.

By helping others find their light, we will find ours. And then doing all those other things, the books, the courses, the events, will all have been worth it! They were all stepping-stones to get us to finally step out of the darkness and into the great light of being ourselves by being a guiding light for others to get out of their own dark tunnels.

And then you’ll realize that doing all of these other things will have been so worth spending time in a dark tunnel.

Boogieman be damned! You’ve just lit that tunnel up!