“This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.” Do you remember that song?
I was thinking about it last night and told my son that he needed to sing it every day as his theme song. We’ve been talking about when he let his “light become dim.” He’s my dancer, and he used to get on stage and shine so brightly you couldn’t take your eyes off of him. Then something happened, and he turned the dimmer switch. Maybe it’s a developmental stage or maybe he was trying too hard to fit in at school — to be like everyone else despite the fact that he is so different. In any case, something caused his light to dim, and now he’s finding the dimmer switch kind of stuck. He’s working on loosening it up and getting his light to brighten up a bit again.
Have you ever felt like that, like you’ve dimmed your light for some reason? I surely have. Sometimes I think I’ve dimmed mine to not outshine my husband. Sometimes I think I’ve dimmed it simply so people won’t see the real me and, like my son, think I different and, therefore, not like me. Sometimes I think I turn my light off rather than be seen, because it’s easier to remain hidden in the dark than to shine my light and be seen and to be judged — to have someone say I’m not good enough.
There are lots of reasons to dim our lights. I’m tired of having my dimmer switch on. In fact, I think I’ll tear mine out and put in a simple on/off switch. I’m going to suggest that to my son, too. What about you?
Then I think I’ll get some good ol’ Duck Tape and make sure my switch is taped into the “on” position.
You know why? Because it’s time for this little light of mine to shine…and I’m gonna let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.
If you all join me, imagine what a bright world this would be.
