I roamed around the streets of Madrid that December night.. Family and friends surrounded me, and it was so easy to appear like I was happy. It was so easy to pretend. We kept walking, and with every glance around me, the more guilty I felt. Other people's laughter ringed in my ears, the night was sparkling and the scent of Christmas was in the air. And yet here I was, struggling to break free from this unrelenting guilt, this insecure self awakening in me. What was it that kept bothering me? Why couldn't I enjoy that beautiful evening? The night kept getting darker, and so did my mood. No, it was not only that day I had felt this way, but it was this night that I had felt it so real. I was still struggling to let go of hurts, and they had crept up on me to ruin the Holiday Season. A time of peace? Didn't seem so. All I felt was chaos. I thought a night out would lighten me up, but it had only brought me down even more. I sluggishly kept walking with everyone else, until we arrived at a plaza. Children were running around, parents were laughing, dogs were barking, sellers were yelling... But right in the middle of the plaza stood a lamp post. A tall, marble black post with a light so captivating I had actually stopped to stare at it. There, in the middle of the chaos, in the middle of the dark night, stood this one lamp post, shining its pure and vibrant light. That's when I realized... I live in darkness and I live in fear, but there is a light that surpasses all weaknesses and doubts. Though darkness or chaos may surround me, though disappointments and failures will try to never let me go, there is a hope I can cling to, a hope that will last forevermore.
