Rise & Shine

“Sunrise, sunset…sunrise, sunset…”Goes the song from ‘The Fiddler on the Roof’. The two lines kept playing in my head like a stuck record as I sat waiting for the sun to rise. For a change my niece and I were up at an unearthly hour. It was dark, still and quiet outside, except for the normal night sounds made by nocturnal creatures. Gazing across the horizon we awaited the arrival of the sun. There was mist in the air and the lawn was covered in dew. As we waited there were many times when we thought we should just go back to sleep or get going with our work because there was no sign of the sun. But our wait paid off great dividends. After what seemed like ages, a glimmer of gold finally appeared in the east. The sun was not visible but the grey clouds were now painted in light shades of gold. As we watched mesmerised, the glow turned brighter and spread to a larger area. In contrast the west was dark, no sign of daylight there. With every passing minute the sky became brighter and the golden glow spread far and wide. Along with this came the chirping of the birds. We could hear them but we couldn’t spot a single one. Keeping time with the rise of the sun, in a while the birds set about in a flurry.  The sight that lay in front of us was worth all the effort. Blue sky, splashed generously with burning red gold left us mesmerised. The trees formed a pretty silhouette against this vibrant canvas.

Life is unpredictable but there are some things in life that we can depend on…always; such as the rising and setting of the sun. The sun continues its journey, unabashed, unabated. We can rely on it with our eyes closed. Not all things in nature are predictable or reliable, but the sun is. It may be get covered by the clouds, or it may be hidden by the fog, but rise it will. Whether there are storms or droughts or happy monsoons, the sun dutifully performs its job. Being reliable is not a quality we all have, but surely it is a quality we all need to develop if we wish to rise and shine in life.