My recent posts after I moved to Chennai from America had one thing in common. Misery. Where was the hope? Where was the inspiration? It was there buried somewhere but you really had to look for it. So much for being the “enlightened” one, who dabbles in yoga, reiki and all the new age mumbo jumbo and then proceeds to shove it down everyone’s throat. But I discovered that it is so hard to shine your light when everything around you falls apart and there is no light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. The last four months have seen me move across the globe, sell almost all of our worldly possessions, remain unemployed and watch my kids trying hard to adapt to a culture alien to them. Added to that was the water problem, the maid problem and the traffic problem. Every day you wake up in the morning not knowing what problem you will have to confront on that given day.
Before I knew it, I was sucked into a quagmire of problems. The more I struggled, the deeper I sank. It wasn’t before I was neck deep in it that I realized my folly. The problems were getting bigger because I kept focusing on them and complaining about them. I had to find my tiny bit of hope and I had to find it fast. It was my only hope to stay above water. I had to tell myself that ‘it’ was on its way, even though I had no idea what was coming. That small expectation kept me going, even when there was no change on the outside.
That tiny bit of hope came trickling into my life a few weeks ago. It wasn’t much, just an assurance that some work may come my way after a hiatus of nearly five months. I heartily lapped it up and it grew in me and glowed within. Then things began to change on the outside. We had heavy rains in Chennai. The parched earth quenched her thirst and was replenished. The house-help, gone for weeks, now returned. A big burden was lifted off my chest. Things are going to get better. As this transformation happened, an old school song from my school days came to my mind.
Give light to my heart,
Give light to the world,
Let me burn in your light,
Let me give your light to the world.
And that is exactly what each of us has to do. Find that little bit of light in our life and spread it. It is not easy, as I have experienced in my life. If you are unemployed, a single parent, chronically ill or in a unhappy relationship, you are consumed by it and it is harder to find the light – forget being the light. Some of us simply drift, barely keeping our head above the water. But survival is not our sole (soul) purpose. Some of us are swallowed by this tidal wave of sorrow and despair. There is no hope. No lighthouse to guide you through the storm. You probably know at least a handful of people who are worse off than you. But one person shining their light can lift hundreds out of their misery. And that person could be you.
Don’t wait for your life to be in order before you start sharing your light and uplifting others. Start now and start right where you are. Open your heart, empathize, help someone today. Your purpose is more than doing a 9 to 5 job, chores, managing kids or a business. The world may be full of problems, but you can be the solution. Be the light. Be the love. Be the change we have all been waiting for. You have been waiting for.
Damyanti Chandrasekhar loves yoga, baking and the Tao. She has a Masters degree in Journalism and her other interests include reading, travelling and playing agony aunt via her blog www.punctuatelife.com.