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“Monday brings last sunny 70s forecast in Seattle for now; clouds ahead”
We are entering the time in the Pacific Northwest when sunny days are at a premium. Soon the panoramic view of the Olympics and the Cascades will be but a memory.
We’ll all be crying, “Mount Rainier, where did you go?”
The truth is Seattle can become encased in a grayness that leaves the worshippers of sunshine starving for light.
The price Northwesterners pay for their days of glorious summer sunshine is not insignificant.
The Evergreen State is kept green not so much by its days of sunshine as by its days of rain.
Dark. Cloudy. Rainy. Days.
— blanketing the region for well over half the year.
Which means if you want sunshine year round in the Great Pacific Northwest — you’ll need to light your own lamps.
The truth of the matter — many don’t.
A great number suffer from sunshine deprivation which accounts for our inordinately high rates of depression and melancholy.
The business of manufacturing light is a big deal because it’s so necessary for our health.
We simply can’t live without light.
We all have experienced how darkness can imprison us in sadness and despair.
But it’s not just the sun that gives us light. Our light can be turned off by events in our lives that leave us standing in darkness.
So to thrive we need to learn to make our own light.
This might mean:
- letting go of old notions
- starting over again
- walking away from dark thoughts
I had the privilege of watching a friend manufacture light at a time when his own life was in darkness.
He became a lamplighter.
Mark was born in the hill country in North Carolina and had lived a life of accomplishment.
- as a student
- as an athlete
- as a businessman
Until one year he ran headlong into…failure.
It occurred in 2006 when he joined my company (Collegiate Services) and attempted to introduce a program he had designed to stimulate growth.
His program failed and Mark had to reckon with a reality with which he was unfamiliar.
Marsha and I had experienced failure before and had learned how to manufacture our own light. But Mark was another matter.
We visited with him at the end of the year in North Carolina.
He was very low. It was not at all clear to either of us how he would come out of his darkness.
Clearly, Mark was at a crossroads.
We all went on with our lives.
Then, after a couple of years, I checked in with him and, much to my surprise (and happiness), I came to discover an entirely rejuvenated Mark.
He had completely changed the direction of his life:
- walked away from his business career
- entered graduate school for a master’s in education
- joined the faculty at the local high school
- picked up coaching duties and
- became the school’s bus driver
He became the lamplighter in his own life.
As the school’s bus driver he not only learned the the names of all the students, but something special about each of them.
He never was without a positive word for each of his passengers.
The last time I checked in with Mark he was happy as a clam. His family was in great shape, his boys were in college and he loved his work.
Mark learned this ancient truth:
Something we Nortwesterners learned a long time ago.
Just a thought…
Pat
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