A Joyous Perspective on the tunnels that make up our lives: Trudging ahead with trust

This week at the Friday Night Thought-tale hour with the Hendersons, we have noted a few events that reminded us of an old idiom that gets thrown around a lot.  It's supposed to bring encouragement and give one hope as you trudge through life's tough times - "There's light at the end of the tunnel."  I started musing about what this optimistic quip can mean to a person, depending upon where they are in their tunnel. Is the light always a gift, or can it blind us?  And how about those tunnels?  We know they are a fact of every life, but are they always a negative thing?  Can they sometimes be a place of solace and refuge from our storms?  

When you are in the process of driving through a tunnel... 

There's no question that it can feel a bit claustrophobic, making you grip the wheel even tighter. Even as a passenger, have you ever been able to look around and see what's on the side and above you?  It's like you are fixated on what's ahead, as though you can somehow help the driver to avoid a sudden shift of oncoming traffic.  These tunnels are what this saying was based upon. They are those things along the path of life that just appear and have no way of being avoided if you wish to accomplish getting to that next place in your life.  

Chris and I drove through the longest tunnel in North America, and I can tell you, it felt like it would never end.  However, we knew it would end because the sign said it would!  "Life tunnels" like these might be things like a long winter, paying off debt, graduating from school, or returning home from service.  Yes, these all require some perseverance and can be challenging, but they most likely have an expiration date. 

Although I applied the ‘Light at the end…’ idiom  

to the things Chris and I were seeing happening this week, I don’t really think that the saying was written to encourage people during times like these. These are tunnels in which you can believe with confidence that there is a light or an end because the contract says when it should come.  Like the mile markers during the drive through the tunnel, you can mark your progress and imagine the end.  There isn't much of a doubt if you just keep your eyes ahead. 

I think the saying was really met for those tunnels that don’t have welcome signs with instructions on how long you might be there.  

They can be as scary as caring for a sick loved one, as heartbreaking as grief, or as mandatory as toilet training a toddler, but all of these oftentimes have moments of uncertainty as to their end.  They can become so daunting that you might just consider holing up in there and hiding out, becoming a part of the tunnel rather than a traveler of it.  Yes, these are the tunnels I think this saying was created for.  Some way of prodding and cheering, ‘don’t stop, don’t give up, you have to believe me, there’s a light at the end of this.’  It might get really dark, and the dust might make it tough to breathe, but you have to keep going.  

Like a poem my son Seth wrote says, ‘fight the dust, trudge on with trust, because in the end, it ends, it must.’ 

There isn't always a bright or better light at the end of these tunnels, but there is definitely freedom from the restrictive encasing.  Even if you take part in the tunnel and its heaviness with you, its end will just be an opportunity to learn how to walk upright and take a few sharp turns if you want to.  Yes, some tunnels will never collapse behind us and others that we are destined to repeat.  

The light at the end is not intended to be a fairy tale happy ending.  

It’s just a break. So take it, and then continue on your path.

So tonight, we are drinking to trudging on with trust.  I made a cocktail called “The White Light.” There will be other tunnels to travel, but we will remind ourselves that there will always be a way through to the other side if we keep going.  CHEERS FRIENDS!

The White Light Cocktail**

1 ½ ounces of Tito’s Vodka (or Bombay Sapphire Gin)

¾ ounces of Cointreau

¾ ounces of lemon juice

Ice

Place all ingredients in a cocktail shaker.  Shake hard.  Strain into a martini glass.

**Drink responsibly. Even in these crazy times.