You were born with a cup of light housed deep inside you filled to the brim. The light is comprised of your all knowing, love and your authentic self. It is this light that guides you, affirms you and acts as your foundation. The light spills into every cell of your body to enliven you and coax you to become. It moves you to be you. It feeds you knowledge, compassion, courage, acceptance and love. The light keeps you aligned with your spirit. The light reminds you of your purpose and lives to move you to that next place. It is the lantern you use, which sends out the light you need to find your way. As you can imagine, your cup of light is a pretty big deal.

When our cup is full, we know it. There’s a feeling of contentment and ease. We are less negatively affected by all the external distractions that steer us off course. We feel committed to our path, our cause and align ourselves readily with the light of others. When we are full, we have no problem sharing our light with others. We know there is enough for everyone and therefore don’t worry about lack. If aligned with the Divine and our authentic selves, we have faith that our cup of light will always be with us and never run out. It may get low, it may get drained sometimes by the darkness of others, but the light does not completely vanish. All it takes is a trickle of light to erode whatever dam hinders our ability to fill our cup again. Be open to receiving a trickle of light from the Divine, nature or another cup of light holder. Don’t run from light, pour it in your cup.

It is up to us to keep our cup full so we have enough sustenance for our journey and enough light to sprinkle on others. Sharing from your cup helps add to your stash. When you light another candle by using your light, the room gets brighter. It’s magic. But giving away too much and not re-filling, leaves your cup empty. In this state, you’re out of fuel, stagnant, depressed and weary. It’s hard to find yourself when your cup’s low because when there’s little light, there’s little life. When you are empty and lost to yourself with little light to illuminate the way, connecting with others is super hard too. You can’t share what you don’t have. The world will continue to try and draw from your cup and not give you time to replenish if you let it. You were never meant to live unprotected and without light. Guard your light like your life depends on it because it does.

When our cup overflows, that’s joy. It pours all over the floor and soaks into everything around it. Decide what brings you joy and chase after it with a large net. Not only do we put out a ton of light when we’re in joy, it’s so much easier to see what is beautiful, wise and worthy when we feel joyous. This same light also teaches us what we need to do to fill up again. It may mean we need to be in solace, strengthen our boundaries, eat better, pray, socialize, exercise more, learn, disengage, self-advocate, sleep or create. We fill our cup when we know that all we can do is try our best to do our best. And that will always be enough. We fill our cups when we fight for the rights of others and their right to carry their own cup of light and shine brightly. We replenish so we have the strength to shine light on the ugly and bring it out of the darkness. If we want more light in the world, we have to dismantle what keeps it from others.

It may deplete me some when I muster courage, take chances, speak up and feel like the only candle in a room. But I know what to do to replenish. Sometimes it takes a while to fill my cup again. Sometimes I don’t want to do what I need to do and give from my cup because it can hurt and make me weary. But if I do not use what the the Divine has given me and hoard my light, then I give up on life. Fill your cup, share your light and trust that the Divine is always right there doling out a continuous pour of love just for you.

Questions/activities to ponder or good journal prompts!

1. Think of a time when you felt moved by something within YOU? What happened? What did it feel like? Where did that movement take you?
2. Recall a time when you ran from receiving someone else’s light. Why? What did you believe about being more open to love or light at that time?
3. What does it feel like to you when you have given too much of yourself away? Note the warning signs reminding you to stop the drain and set the intention to listen.
4. Why would some people keep others from shining their light?
5. Do you trust that there is enough love and light for everyone? Why or why not?