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This is an edited re-post but one worth reading again because it is timely.

This year, Diwali is upon us on November 7. It coincides with another special day, Remembrance Day. Both are significantly symbolic in their own way. Both are about good over evil and light over darkness. One holds the symbol of the flame, the other the poppy. Both are about gathering and reflecting. One is about the flame as purification and the other about the sacrifice people gave. Equally powerful in their own way.

If you look up the definition of Diwali, you get:
“A Hindu festival of lights, held in the period October to November. It is particularly associated with Lakshmi, the goddess of prosperity, and marks the beginning of the fiscal year in India.”

From what I have been exposed to, Diwali is a religious celebration where good overcame evil, where darkness was replaced by light, and the Diya ( is a small earthen bowl to be used like a candle) sacred symbol of purity and light. Diwali is where one prays for prosperity, forgiveness and inner peace. It is also a celebration where family gathers to shares in the company of each other while consuming sweet treats. This is the universal and simplified understanding of Diwali, but I also have another version to share…the inner Diwali.

The foundation is about the Diya and that it is about light conquering darkness. The inner Diwali is the celebration of the triumphs you encounter and overcome over the challenges and struggle internally. I celebrate my inner Diwali daily as I allow myself to realize the positive outcomes from the daily situations. I am not about the challenges and limitations but rather the possibilities and opportunities. I hold an inner Diya that is very bright and strong. Don’t get me wrong, I have had my fair share of adversity; however, I choose not to dwell and always look for the light out of the darkness.

Let me share a story to further explain this. Three years ago, I was on a year long journey to write and blog. It was from January 1-December 31, 2012 and on January 1, 2013, I was going to list my most memorable experiences…the extraordinary in the ordinary. On Diwali 2012, one of my students contacted to me to let me know that my blog had been hacked. I went in and sure enough, my website was dead. I was a month and half away from my goal and just like that, someone had removed 11 months of work. Like most people, I was disappointed but I was not going to let the hacker win. I got over the frustration very quickly and pulled my posts together through various means and strung all 89 of my stories together again and realized that combined, I now had 94 pages and 20,000 words…I have a book on my hands here! On January 1st, 2013, I triumphantly closed off my yearlong blog with 109 stories. Out of the darkness of this terrible act, I found my inner light. In the end, on Diwali 2012, good overcame evil.

People often ask how I can do that. How can I find the good out of the bad? My simple solution is twofold. I will always search out creative and innovative solutions to the situations that are handed to me. The second point to consider is that I will never let anyone dictate how I will react to a situation…that is my choice. The hacker likely felt they had done a deed and ruined someone’s day and in one of those rare instances, someone who went out to perform a negative act wound up helping me. I will not give them credit because their intent was not positive; however, I will find some way to turn things around. My inner Diya is my guide and I will not let the darkness of situations overcome. We all have the inner Diya within us. Let the positive forces guide you daily.