I wrote this post while sitting on my patio with my laptop. I love working outside, enjoying the sounds of nature around me, smelling the scent of the coming fall, and feeling the warmth of the last warm days. I wouldn’t mind if it stayed like this until next spring…. haha. We had some very hot times this summer and I loved it. I mind the cold rather than the heat. But during the last few days when it got really cool in the mornings and evenings, I noticed something about me. I enjoyed the chilly feeling on my skin in some way. It made me think of taking a hot bath or cuddling in some cozy clothes again.

What I enjoy about it is the moment when getting from the cold into the warmth. That cozy moment when cuddling into a warm blanket. When you get inside and a cup of coffee or tea is waiting for you. I noticed that temperatures of 12 °C (55 °F) in the morning already give me chills after the 30 °C (90 °F) only a week before. During winter we will get down to freezing temperatures and 12 °C will appear very warm again. Funny, how subjective we experience this.

It all made me think of the duality we live in and from which we learn. How we notice the warmth so much more when it is getting cold and how relatively cold and warm can be. When we never lost something we might not be able to treasure all that we still have. Because when we had it all and lost it we will be so much more aware and thankful for all the new things that come towards us again. Nobody wants to live in darkness, most of all not the ones who experienced it. But aren’t the ones who did, those who know the real value of the light? Aren’t the ones who got ill the ones who know how precious health is? Aren’t the ones who got heavily tested and challenged by life the ones who are most compassionate?

The contrast makes us understanding, appreciative, thankful, wiser, and stronger. Through contrast, we learn what we want and what we don’t want (anymore). We need to experience both sides in order to understand both. Again, we need to feel the warmth and the cold in order to understand what warm and cold actually mean. And now there is something else: Even if I learned for myself about warm and cold somebody else can experience it completely differently.

The physical world makes it possible that everyone can experience themselves within the duality in their personal and unique way. This is amazing in many ways. First, there is room for each and every experience and second, there is not only one single truth regarding perceiving life. We are bringing our own light down here. We are coming from a place of light. It is a shining place. But when everything is so light, how can we recognize our own light? That is why we come down here. The seasons, day and night are a visible analogy to the changes we are going through. When it is getting dark outside we are switching on the lights or light candles. WE MAKE LIGHT – because we want/need to see! When we find ourselves surrounded by darkness figuratively the moment will come when we recognize our light again. Those are the enlightening moments. Each of those moments makes us remember our own light again.

Contrast is what we chose in order to evolve and to have the moments of awareness which are fueling us with more power and joy than any physical possession or achievement ever could. The gift of this physical life is the gift of awareness. We get chances and choices. It is up to us what to choose. We often know in advance that one choice may cause us to cross a dark valley before we are reaching the sunny side again. We might not take that choice and stay on that side of the valley. But sometimes we know exactly what is waiting behind the valley and we risk the journey. Once we have reached the other side we are not only treasuring that sun even more but we are also so much stronger. The contentment that we made and the experiences we gained on our journey are giving this new place that we chose an even deeper meaning!

There are dark episodes in our lives. But don’t be afraid of the dark. It is only temporary. This is not your real home just a place to discover yourself. You are coming from light and you are light. Each time you see the sun dawning again will remind you. You are the candle in your own night. This light is always with you. You cannot lose it because you cannot lose who you are. Let yourself shine. It not only connects you stronger to your origin but it also helps others to find their lights again.

In Love and Light