A few years ago, Texas was in the path of a rare solar eclipse. I’ll never forget that day. My employer, VMware, encouraged employees to step away for an hour and experience the event. So, I stood in my backyard with my family, eclipse glasses on, waiting.

As the moon slowly slid across the sun, the world around us changed in ways I didn’t expect. The birds grew silent. Crickets started chirping midday. Even our pets acted restless, as though they felt something was wrong. The light dimmed gradually until, in what felt like a blink, we were standing in near total darkness. Midday had become midnight.

But I had brought out a zoom camera, hoping to capture the moment. When the moon fully covered the sun, I snapped a photo — and what I saw amazed me. Even in that moment of total eclipse, when the sun itself was hidden, light escaped around the edges. A thin, radiant ring shone out from behind the darkness.

Lessons From an Eclipse

That image has stayed with me. Because life often feels like an eclipse.

There are times when challenges pile up — health struggles, career setbacks, personal failures — until it feels like the light is gone. Hopelessness can descend as gradually as the shadow of the moon. One day you realize you’re standing in darkness, wondering if the sun will ever return.

But just like that eclipse, light is never fully gone.

• Sometimes it shows up in simple things we’ve already been given — family, friendships, faith, or the small daily moments of gratitude we often overlook. When we pause to notice them, we realize light has been shining around the edges all along.
• Other times, it requires hard choices — moving on from a toxic environment, breaking old habits, or making a change we’ve resisted for too long. These decisions aren’t easy, but they allow more light into our lives.

Focusing on the Light

The eclipse in my backyard lasted only minutes before the light began to return. But that thin ring of brightness reminded me that even in the darkest moments, light finds a way to escape.

Life is the same. Darkness may come, sometimes slowly, sometimes suddenly, but it never has the final word. If we choose gratitude for what we already have and courage for the changes we need to make, we can discover light even when it seems hidden.

I keep a copy of that eclipse photo framed on the wall in my office. Every time I see it, I’m reminded that even when everything looks dark, light is always available — sometimes in ways we least expect it.