Carry the Flame

I go to bed many nights with my hiking candle lantern lit beside my bed.  I'll turn off the lights and just sit or lay and reflect upon my day.  On really good days, that means images of the laughter and conversation or just being really tired from a great hike or time outdoors.  On the bad days it's a time to let go.  That's when I refocus on the things that make me who I am and try to move forward and into sleep, knowing that once I blow out the candle that the new day will come and I get to start over in a sense.

This week had been all over the place.  I've had struggles at work, great conversations with friends, a willingness to open up to another person and a major decision regarding my journey.

So I'm about to go to bed, read for a few minutes and then hopefully crash.  I looked over to the flame and realized that I need to bring the spark that brought it to life with me everyday.  That flame that I know burns inside me needs to remain visible.  I told someone earlier that I can't change who I am; that I want others to see me not as I was taught to be or some might expect me to be, but as I truly burn inside.

Carry the flame.  

Funny - if you have a spark, that leads to a flame.  That leads to a fire.  

Burn!!!!!!!  

Don't let anything extinguish that!