There was no doubt at all that the day had been difficult.
She had done her best,
As she always did,
But for some reason,
Reasons that could not be explained,
Today had been extra challenging.
Difficult conversations,
Situations that could not be resolved,
Conflicts that had been left uncertain,
And a general feeling of dissatisfaction and frustration with life.
Even though she knew that now the day was coming to an end,
And there was nothing she could do to undo the events that had taken place,
The feelings of dissatisfaction stayed with her as she gazed up into the sky that was quickly turning from day to night.
The colours of the sky were a pastel rainbow,
Graduating from pale pink to vibrant orange,
Hues of blue and purple,
And eventually black as the sun had already dipped below the horizon,
The day ending,
Making its way to night-time,
Closing the chapter on another day.
The longer she gazed at the darkening sky,
The more she became aware of the tiny pinpricks of starlight that were starting to appear on the night-time canvas above her,
Shimmering points that were so far away,
So far away that they almost seemed impossible to perceive,
Almost impossible to understand,
Almost impossible to put into context with her own life.
Such tiny little lights,
But with so much possibility from so far away.
I wonder if the stars have bad days,
She thought to herself.
Do they ever wish they could have done better?
Do they ever wish they could have shone brighter?
Do they ever wish that they could have lit somebody's way home?
Or do they ever wish that they could have spent a day on earth instead of shining in the sky the way that they do,
And have done for as long as they have been part of our night sky?
Maybe,
Sometimes,
It would be better to be a star,
She thought.
People knew what to expect from you.
Even if you didn't appear on a night,
People wouldn't hold it against you.
Nobody ever accused a star of not shining brightly enough,
That a star wasn't trying hard enough,
Or that a star could do better.
The star was accepted for what it was,
Admired and revered for just being.
For stars,
Just being was enough.
I don't think anybody admired me today,
She said to the stars.
I don't think anybody looked at me and thought that I was shining.
But you are shining,
Replied the stars.
You shine in a different way to us,
But it doesn't mean that you don't shine.
You shine because of who you are.
Your light comes from within.
I feel as though my light is dark,
She replied.
I feel as though I can't light the way for anybody.
I feel as though I can't even light the way for myself.
How do you manage to stay so bright?
Some nights we aren't so bright,
The stars replied.
Some days we seem further away.
Some days we seem much closer.
Sometimes you notice our energy flickers as though something stands between us and where we want our light to be.
But we're still here.
We still shine.
We still hold a centre of wonder for anyone who cares to notice.
Even when the clouds cover us,
We're still here.
Those clouds may hide our light.
Those clouds may shield us from the world.
But we are still here and we will always shine.
And we will shine for you.
But what if my light isn't bright enough,
She replied.
What if my light isn't bright enough to make a positive difference to somebody else?
What if I feel like I'm already shining as much as I can and it's still not enough?
How other people perceive us is not an indication of the strength of our light,
The stars replied.
Only you know how strong your light is.
And only you can make it shine brighter if you wish to.
One star never looks the same one night after the other.
Some nights we're white.
Some nights we're bright.
Some nights we're colours and some nights we flicker.
Some nights we may seem very far away.
And some nights it seems as though we're closer to you than ever before.
But we remain consistent.
We remain present.
And we do our best for the night that we have.
You do seem very close tonight,
She replied to the stars.
We are close because you need us to be,
The stars said.
Tomorrow we may not seem so close.
But tomorrow has not yet happened,
And yesterday is been and gone.
Tonight is all that matters to us now,
As that's when we can make a difference.
Shine bright for now.
Thank you,
She said.
