“Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger.
Anger leads to hate.
Hate leads to suffering.”
~Yoda
There’s always a certain level of fear present when you live with a chronic disease. There will always be days when pain, fatigue, or any number of other symptoms become debilitating. And there will always be some bad days that make you angry, make you want to lash out, make you hate.
But, as Yoda said, the fear, anger, and hate are all a path to the dark side and they can steal your joy and ability to create. If I can’t concentrate and my energy is zapped, writing doesn’t happen. It’s frustrating, but it’s incredibly frustrating when the lack of writing is because I let myself get stuck on negativity.
Which means I face a daily choice; choose to find happiness and offer kindness or choose to wallow in pain and anger. A daily choice, walk on the light side…or the dark side.
Like in Star Wars, it’s a fine line, and one that’s not restricted to people with illnesses. It’s easy to get wrapped up in anger, the RWA crisis is an example of that. While there are valid reasons for anger, I believe that many have forgotten that words are weapons and that we as authors are word Jedi.
I know I can’t make people act a certain way or do certain things. But, as I look ahead at 2020, I know that I can choose kindness and happiness. I can choose the light side. And maybe by adding a few more rays to the universe, I’ll help make the world brighter.
