THE RADIANCE OF RESILIENCE
I’m not here to turn this article into a life lesson about standing up to bullying, facing the world with unshakable confidence, or learning to value yourself. I’m not trying to tell you how a person should live their life. I’m not making this seem like some kind of boring lecture. We often think of light as something outside ourselves—a sunrise, a spotlight, or a glowing screen. Something that falls on us, something that we chase. But the strongest light isn’t the one we see—it’s the one we carry within ourselves. It’s the kind of light that lifts you on a morning you don’t want to face. It’s the kind of light that doesn’t demand attention. It’s the kind of light that makes you smile at someone even when you don’t want to. A student drops her books in the hallway. Someone kneels to help her gather everything. That’s light. A mother folds the laundry late evening, exhausted, replaying the day in her head. Her daughter hugs her silently, without a word. That’s light. A father walks into an interview after three rejections. He’s nervous, but he straightens his shoulders and says, “Let’s try again. For my family.” That’s light. You don’t have to be extraordinary to radiate light. You don’t always need perfect grades, or a thousand followers to shine. Sometimes your light lies within your ability to not give up, to keep going, even when no one is clapping. Sometimes it’s in your empathy. Sometimes it’s what helps someone else stand up again. There are days when everything feels too heavy to carry. Days that are dim. But the light within you doesn’t disappear. It waits for you to come back once again and realize that it’s there, that its flame had never been extinguished. Your light is real. It doesn’t need anybody’s validation. It doesn’t need an applause. All it needs is for you to believe in it. And once you do, you’ll realize something beautiful: you’ve been shining all along.
~ TVISHA USGAONKAR X-G, 37
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