It is only natural to cling to moments that feel the warmest because they feel like joy, comfort, and ease.
When life is not like that, it is hard to see the promised light at the end of the tunnel because you’re so deeply lost in the tunnel itself. This famously used quote has never really been all that comforting to me and is hard to believe in when you have been in a hard season for a long time. When you are in the thick of it, believing there will be better days ahead is hard to do, but as adults, it is an essential skill to have. To believe that a difficult time will pass and that a hard season will always change into a new one, that nothing stays the same forever, and that this change is the only promised thing. That eternal sunshine is always with us, in the biggest and smallest of moments and is something we can rely on.
Reflecting in the last month of my second year of university, the biggest lesson of all has been that eternal sunshine is the light in the tunnel.
The term “eternal sunshine” is widely present in the music and film industry and has always sparked interest to me. Whether you are only familiar with the meaning of eternal sunshine from Jhene Aiko’s 2014 track, the film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, or the album so beautifully gifted to us in 2024 by Ariana Grande, the concept itself is not new. However, its significance in your life can be. The concept of eternal sunshine is filled with so much hope just within the name itself. It sounds like a promise of better days to come. It feels like a weight lifted off your heart, mercifully gifting you with a full inhale and a satisfying exhale. You can approach such a grand concept emotionally, philosophically, psychologically, and artistically—finding different meanings in all categories that resonate differently to everyone. As for me, I have come to find meaning in it from a perspective of hope.
After experiencing a deeply difficult academic year, one that tolled on me emotionally, mentally, and physically—change was the one thing that I looked forward to the most.
This dark tunnel that I found myself in, especially in the first semester, challenged me in so many ways. It tested my resilience, academic ability, and my faith. The times of immense fear, bottomless anxiety, and constant worry for what was going to come consumed many of my weeks. Looking back now, this experience made me reconsider the way I approach stressful moments and taught me the power of support, prayer, and trusting in an eternal sunshine that promises hope. That things will and do get better eventually! I held onto the belief that hard times eventually pass, dreadful semesters end, and that good things always come sooner or later to replace the bad.
As the only promised thing to us in our lifetime, change is something I’m learning to embrace with open arms instead of fear of the unknown. I am doing so while reminding myself that the discomfort that comes along with change is not the enemy. And so, I am training myself to meet difficult moments with a steadier heart, teaching myself to be adaptable and resilient in the face of change so that next time a challenge arises, I will remember that eternal sunshine is always present to help me get through it!
In this process, I’m learning to let change—and the lessons it brings—to be my teacher, teaching me patience and curiosity. To understand that no season lasts forever, no matter how heavy or hard. To trust that there will be ease in places that once felt heavy. Now, even when I’m scared and worried, I always know there is a steady warmth inside me that doesn’t disappear. One that trusts that there are kinder days ahead, and that nothing will ever stay the same. This reminder has been incredibly relieving to me this year, amidst all the challenges and struggles I faced. It taught me that change is something that represents hope, relief, excitement, and curiosity. However, as much as I longed for change, it was simultaneously so scary too. Change means getting uncomfortable and not being in control of everything. But, I have learned that new experiences are naturally going to be scary and discomforting. They will feel unfamiliar and foreign to your mind and body, but it is exactly within that discomfort where growth happens. These experiences tell your brain that you are capable of doing hard things and proves that just because something is unfamiliar and new does not mean you are incapable of it.
It just means you need to do it anyway, and do it scared.
From this season in my life, one thing I know for sure is that no matter how hard a moment may be, it will not last forever. That semester was eventually going to end, and I was going to move on. The exam that left me anxious for days did eventually pass, and in the end, I was okay. But during that time, when the waters were stormy and it was hard to see anything good, knowing that things were going to change, gave me peace. Change does not promise ease: it promises that moments in life will shift, and this awareness gives me so much hope.
Through every challenge I always find the same promising and alleviating truth: there is an eternal sunshine to be found through it all. Even in the moments that broke me down when I was faced with challenges that asked more of me than I thought I could handle, something warm always remained. I was able to find it in the smallest of cracks, the slivers of space where the light was able to get through. I found it in the new experiences that entered my life that I once prayed for, the unforgettable moments of excitement and the softer ones of peace. The friendship that held me steady through difficult moments and celebrated with me through the joyous ones.
And right alongside all of that was growth.
The kind that is silent and unrecognizable at first glance, but that is found in the lessons that are tucked into ordinary days, reassuring individuals, and the realization that old narratives have transformed into better, different ones.
This year has been proof that through all struggles, the sunshine stayed. Not always obvious, not always beaming down with heat, but always there. I know that it is promised to show itself again every day and help carry me into new seasons of life.
And when the sun seems to hide for a longer period of time than expected, I believe we must remind ourselves that it constantly exists—in the darkest of tunnels with us, all the way through until we find our way out.