In the darkest room a single candle sheds the greatest light.  The consequences of sexual abuse darkens a life.  Feelings of unworthiness, disgust, self-distrust, sorrow, and so many other negative feelings crowd out light….like a heavy thick smokey fog choking out life.  Post is titled inspiration.  Darken rooms, darken lives hardly seem inspiring.  I didn’t feel like I deserved inspiration.  Here’s the thing I learned.  No matter how dark or ugly life maybe, inspiration will find its way in, IF we look for it.  A candle in a bright room is lost and hardly noticed, however a candle in a dark room acts like a beacon…True a person can turn their back on what ever hope there is blow out the candle but I learned that hope is a relighting candle.  I turned toward hope and bit by bit I added more hope and more inspiration.  One of the things about inspiration is I sometimes need someone outside of myself encouraging me and pointing out possibilities that I didn’t know existed.  For me, I used prayer but I was filled with doubt but I learned more.  Finally, I got counseling.  My therapist helped me see the lights and hope and pathways I didn’t know existed.  I am thankful that he understood my faith in Christ.  He let my shaky doubtful faith play a key role in my healing.  Inspiration is all fine and good but I needed motivation and new information to forge a new way of living.  My counselor offered both motivation and new information.  Sometimes he took old information and presented it in a new way.  Many a conversation came with him telling me his point of view was different.  I hoped so.  I was spinning my wheels in my own life.  I wanted a new perspective.  I didn’t always agree with him but he sure made me think.  I felt inspiration more and more frequently.  I looked for motivation to keep moving forward.  I wanted to find a better way of living.  I wanted out of the dark room and smokey fog.  Inspiration combined with motivation and add in action is a powerful combination.  I’m thankful I didn’t turn my back on the candle in the room.

A single candle brings light to the darkest room.