Burnt Out

Have you ever had a string of Christmas lights go out on you? In my experience, the two times it happens is right after you finish decorating the tree or ten minutes before the guests arrive for a party. It can be incredibly frustrating when those beautiful twinkling lights suddenly go dark. You want to take the whole string and toss them in the trash. After all, they don’t work any more, so why bother holding on to them?

That impulse could be rash, though. Christmas light strands are often wired in series. If one of the bulbs burns out, it can easily cause a break in the electric circuit. Replacing the broken bulb will complete the circuit again. It takes a few minutes to test them and find which burnt out, but eventually you will replace the broken bulb and the strand will light again.

Have you ever felt that way about an aspect of your own life: that everything was so broken you might as well throw it all out or give up on it? In moments of shock and distress, it is easy to get overwhelmed by feelings of despair. Those are natural reactions, but ones we can’t wallow in. Eventually, we must push through them to the other side.

You need to put in a bit of work to find out what one part is causing the problem and replace it. That might mean finding a new way of working, dropping an unhealthy habit, or repairing a broken relationship. But by doing so, you can bring the light back to your life.