When you put a snuffer over a candle, the flame loses access to oxygen and dies. Sometimes, life can feel the same. A metal dome seems to descend all around you, and suddenly, you’re in the dark.
The dome could be your company trying to bully you out. It could be a coworker continuously making snide remarks. Maybe it’s a failed pregnancy, a lackluster product launch, or a patron pulling out of your vernissage at the last minute.
Whatever its exact shape or material, the dome’s arrival will shake your confidence. It will make you feel isolated. You will doubt your skills, character traits, perhaps even your values. “What if I actually don’t belong here? Do I deserve this setback?”
No, you don’t. You’re exactly where you’re meant to be — you just need to remember that you’re not a candle. You can do something even the most powerful fire can’t do: supply your own oxygen.
Everything you need, you already carry within yourself. Love. Hope. Confidence. Courage. Honesty. Belief. It’s all there, ready for you to fetch. You need only remember to go and collect.
Even the biggest candle snuffer in the world could not resist that light. Once you find your way back to it, it’ll crack any exterior shell right open. Shoot towards the sky where it belongs, and break any dome of limitation straight in half.
No matter how hard it might try, the world can never snuff you out. You are not a candle. Only you can dim your light — and only you can release it. Choose to dial it up, and shine as bright as you can.