Last night, there were some ups and downs…but I woke up this morning doing what I do best: seeing light. And that brought me back to what I am fluent in.

When you are in your darkest days, it is really easy to see how surrounded you are by, in fact, darkness. I was there a good time ago. I remember what pitch black looks like. How that feels. What I thought that meant. It is really easy to start thinking dark thoughts, doing dark things, and surrounding yourself by a cloak of shadows. In a much simpler sense, it is easy to get stuck in a pit.

But we have choice. The choice to get stuck in that pit, or the choice to try to climb out. If you take the time to look up to the sky when things are really dark in your life, you have the opportunity to become an admirer of the stars – which the closer you get to them – the brighter they become. When you start dreaming big, those stars end up in your mind, creating an explosion of light. Positive thoughts disintegrate the blackness. It takes a while to overcome it, but it does eventually happen. I have been there…and if there is anything I can prove to you, it is the results of focusing on turning darkness into light.

That is what I am fluent in.

Make no mistake, we live in a very complicated world full of balance. Darkness and light. The expectation that things are going to be all light is foolish. So, understanding the natural balance of things, there are going to be times where things are not looking so hot. But when you can admit to yourself that you are in the pit, and that most likely you are continuing this process of being in the black, then you can give yourself the permission to look up to the stars. But without admittance there is no dreaming. The power of telling yourself, directly into the mirror, that your current condition is in fact, the condition you are in, is one of the most powerful moments out there. I started myself in the mirror for the first time  years ago 2/9 and told myself that I was hardly a good man. I admitted all the things that were running my life…and promised myself that I would create something better…because my life was on the table…the biggest poker chip you can play with.

Decide. Make the decision what you want for yourself. If you are stuck, make your own path through the mud. Because you will be trampling around in the swamp for a while. But that is part of the process. But look up to the stars, and have fun getting filthy.

Evan Sanders
The Better Man Project