Every night, when I let my dog out, I am attacked by a swarm of moths, mosquitoes and other creepy, winged pest that are drawn to the light at night. For this reason, I dread opening my back door at night, yet I still keep the light on.

To me, the security that the light brings by piercing through the darkness of my huge backyard is more important than turning it off at night.  A few pesky bugs are not a huge deal, if I keep it in perspective.

Even the security of sitting in my living room and being able to look out my window and see that there is no one in my yard is enough to never turn off that light; however, there are many people who would just turn off the light until they need it. Some would even stop using the light altogether, succumbing to the overwhelming intrusion of pests.

There Is Something Important About Being Able To See Through The Darkness Of Life…

 Light makes things plain…

This reminds me of a deeper issue. At my school our goal is to inspire, teach and help others become warrior protectors. We are constantly integrating lessons of how to grow strong and use that strength as a way to help others…

…however, the lesson of how to share strength and protect would not be complete without the lesson of understanding that when you do good, the recipient or those around the recipient might not always accept your sharing.

A teacher and friend once told me, “With some people, you can do everything right to help and still be seen by others as wrong.”

To some, that is a foreign concept, but to a great number of individuals, this is a common occurrence….and that brings me to this question:  Where would our nation be if every instance of doing right became too tough, and great individuals gave up out of fear of bodily harm, slander, oppression, etc?

In This Often-Dark World, We Need To Continually Aim For The Light!

Moving towards light despite the response of others shows great strength…

I had a student whose sister was being bullied at school by a boy, so the student taught his sister to get into a strong defensive stance and use her voice assertively to yell, “Stay back!  Leave me alone!”  He told her that the next time this boy bothers her, she was to do this.

A few days later, the boy went to bully her again, and she followed her bother’s guidance. Her performance was so powerful that the bully began to cry.  The boy was so hysterical that the teachers first thought the girl had hit him, but when the truth came out, they where all amazed and inspired by her non-violent display of strength.

Their original impression, however, was that she had been the one in the wrong.

I had another student who saw a girl being bullied at school by three, other girls.  While everyone was watching this young victim being pushed around by three aggressors, my student stood up and positioned her self between the victim and her attackers.

The attackers threatened her and told her to move out of the way, but my student refused to move.  The aggressors eventually backed down, but the truth is that this could have turned out bad in many ways.  It is always encouraged that youth get an adult involved as soon as possible.

Ultimately, these girls now look at my student as a person to heckle and she bears that weight because of her choice.  When her parents told me the story in her presence, I asked if she was okay with these girls now seeing her as an issue?  Her response was, “It’s not fun, but I did the right thing.”

Light Burns Away Darkness, And The Darkness Does Not Appreciate It – At All…

You may not extinguish all the darkness, but you CAN shine, brightly, anyway!

There are forces in the world that search for brightness, but they do not get inspired by it or seek to become part of it.  Instead, these forces seek to attack and extinguish that light.

When you are a good person doing great things in the world, if you choose to be a warrior protector, you must always realize that everyone won’t see the truth of your brightness.

Some will heckle you, and some will even try to quench your light.  Just like me and the light on my porch, we have three main choices – and these are not the only choices!  First, we can let the bugs win and shut of the light

Second, we can go through the hassle of moving the light elsewhere so that it’s not so inconvenient to us…

…or we can simply and finally accept the bugs’ existence and find a way to insulate ourselves from them so that they don’t interrupt our lives as much.  This third option is the best one because it allows our light to stay on and shine, properly positioned for maximum effect.