One Candle Can Light a Thousand: Shine for Yourself, Shine for Your People
There is an old truth that whispers through generations: “One candle can light a thousand candles.”
This wisdom speaks to the quiet power of one person choosing to shine—choosing to live with purpose, with goodness, and with connection.
When we shine our light, we don’t diminish anyone else.
Instead, we offer warmth, clarity, and courage to those around us.
We become a beacon, reminding others of the light they carry within themselves.
But this light isn’t just ours.
When we shine, we honour those who came before us - our tūpuna.
Their breath still moves through us.
Their hands shaped the pathways we now walk.
They are the reason we have our skills, our quirks, our ways of thinking, and the opportunities we’ve been given.
The rhythm of our hearts beats with their legacy.
When we shrink ourselves, when we hide our light to make others comfortable, we forget them.
But when we show up fully—when we speak our truth, when we live with kindness and purpose—we allow their light to live on in us.
Our tūpuna did not walk the lands, fight the battles, endure the hardships, and dream the dreams so that we would dim ourselves.
They shone in their time so we could shine in ours.
It is not noble to make ourselves small so others can feel big.
The world needs your full light.
It needs your laughter, your courage, your goodness.
Your light does not take away from others, it invites them to rise.
Being a good person is more than just kindness; it’s a legacy.
Your goodness ripples outward, touching lives you may never see.
One simple act - done with love - can be the spark that sets others alight.
So shine.
Shine with the strength of your whakapapa.
Shine with the voice of your tūpuna in your lungs.
Shine for those who are watching, hoping, and waiting for someone to go first.
Whakataukī:
“Kāore te kūmara e kōrero mō tōna ake reka.”
The kūmara does not speak of its own sweetness.
Let your light speak for itself.
Let your actions be your legacy.
Shine not for praise, but because it is in your bones to do so.
Shine, because their radiance is yours.