Finally, in just a few weeks we will all be able to enjoy the extra hour of light with Daylight Savings on Sunday, March 8. Now if your classes end after five p.m., you won’t have to dread the cold, dark walk back to your car, dorm, or townhouse. It will be most blissful. Since Daylight Savings is around the corner we just have one question to answer, what will we do with this extra hour?
An extra hour of daylight means that we have more time to partake in activities and spend more time outdoors. Whether that ‘outdoors’ is leaving your home for a walk or to go to another building—both are fine options! Either way, you are given more time in the day to expand your horizons. With this, as we spring into the next hour and into spring temperatures (hopefully), let us take the metaphorical light that the new season offers and apply it to our lives.
It can be easy to be pessimistic and feel a lack of motivation, especially during the winter months when the sky is grey and the temperature is so cold that fourteen degrees begins to feel warm. This is never an ideal mental space to be in. With Daylight Savings coming up soon and spring around the corner, we should all try to put a little spring in our step and put a little light into our day. One way we can do this is by spreading kindness in this extra hour. Even though we may be gaining an extra hour of light, in metaphorical terms, ‘light’ will stay the same. Therefore, we can take it upon ourselves to find the figurative light, cultivate it, and let it shine.
Author Marianne Williamson, of A Return to Love, once said, “As we let our light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence actually liberates others”. Let us take Williamson’s quote and add it into our daily routine. Finding the ‘light’ within our day to day life can allow for a wave of positivity and calmness to come over us. This ‘light’ could be finding joy in the small things of our own life and then spreading this happiness to others. Carrying kindness within our hearts and finding the good in life can make our being feel lighter and add joy to our lives. It can feel like an energy boost to our daily routine—who knew coffee wasn’t the only thing to have an energized day?
Adding kindness into our daily routine not only has the ability to uplift ourselves, but it can make someone else’s day better too. Just think about that time that you were having a rough day and someone complimented your hair or outfit, didn’t that make your day a bit brighter? You could be that light to someone’s gloomy day. We never know what someone is going through and moving with goodness in your heart and in interactions with others, can make someone feel liberated and joyful.
As we move forward, let us leave behind our gloomy thinking in yesteryear. The clocks can take upon the objective of moving time forward such that we can enjoy the longer nights. And we can take upon the objective of moving forward with kindness in our hearts, both for ourselves and others. Let us spring into the new season with light and joy in each step!