October 26, 2025
When I sat down to write today’s Thought of the Day and Question of the Day, I realized how perfectly they balance each other. One is about hope rising from darkness; the other is about things that lurk in the dark and make us want to hide under the covers. Life, like October, seems to swing between those two moods, bright morning optimism and shadowy “don’t open that door” suspense.
Thought of the Day: “Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise.” — Victor Hugo
There’s something beautifully defiant about that line. Victor Hugo wrote it in Les Misérables, a story about suffering, redemption, and the unshakable belief that light will find its way back, no matter how bleak things seem.
If I’m being honest, some nights do feel endless. Whether it’s the anxiety that keeps you awake or the creeping feeling that the good days are gone for good, it can feel like you’re stuck in a loop with no sunrise on the horizon. But time has a way of proving us wrong.
Every morning the world quietly resets. The light doesn’t argue its case, it just shows up. And maybe that’s the point. When the night is heavy, when your Bird Box creatures are whispering fears you can’t quite name, you don’t need to chase the sun. You just need to hold on until it finds you again.
Hope isn’t loud. It’s patient. It’s the slow return of warmth after a long cold stretch. It’s your coffee brewing after a sleepless night. It’s your kids laughing when you thought you had nothing left in the tank.
When you start to believe that the light will always return, even if it takes longer than you’d like, the darkness loses its teeth.
Question of the Day: What is the scariest movie monster?
Okay, confession time: I’m not a big horror movie guy. I don’t do chainsaws, creepy dolls, or kids who whisper Latin phrases in the dark. My imagination is overactive enough, I don’t need Hollywood’s help with nightmares.
So my pick for the scariest movie monster comes from Bird Box. You never actually see the creatures, and that’s exactly what makes them terrifying. The horror isn’t in their appearance, it’s in what they make you see. They turn your mind against you, weaponizing your thoughts until you self-destruct.
That’s a metaphor if I’ve ever heard one. The monsters that do the most damage are usually the ones we never actually see. The ones whispering that you’re not good enough, that you’ve failed, that the sun isn’t coming back this time.
It’s funny how easily fear can blind us, literally, in the case of Bird Box. We walk through our own lives with eyes covered, trying to avoid the things that scare us instead of confronting them. But here’s the thing: Hugo was right. The night ends. The light returns. The monsters, real or imagined, don’t get the final word.
👉 You might also like: Face the Fear — a reflection on why fear isn’t meant to be avoided but understood.
👉 And if you want something lighter: The Zombies Are Coming, What’s Your Weapon of Choice?
Between Hugo’s quiet faith in the sunrise and Bird Box’s invisible terrors, today’s Thought of the Day and Question of the Day remind me that what we fear and what we hope for are often two sides of the same coin. Both live in the dark, waiting for us to open our eyes.
So if you’re in the middle of your own long night, hang tight. The sun’s already on its way back.
💬 Join the Conversation
What’s your scariest movie monster—and what “monsters” do you face in real life? Drop a comment below or join the daily email list to get new Thought of the Day and Question of the Day reflections delivered each morning.
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