Life of E's

Do you radiate positive energy?  Does it have an impact on others?  Are you unsure about what qualities you may want to be radiating out to others?

Winston Churchill said:

“I am an optimist. It does not seem too much use being anything else.”

There are people you know (and I know) who radiate everything that is positive (vs. everything that is negative). For example, contrast the person who radiates

• Passion vs. Apathy

• Positivity vs. Negativity

• Kindness vs. Disdain

• Thankfulness vs. Ingratitude

• Light vs. Darkness

• Creativity vs. Destruction

• Optimism vs. Pessimism

• Brightness vs. Dullness

• Intensity vs. Colorlessness

You can probably think of additional contrasting pairs. We want to think about the positive radiance factor of the ones in the first part of each pair when we are assessing ourselves on the Radiance Scale.

First, let’s look at two definitions of radiance from www.MyFavoriteThesaurus.com:

• The quality of being bright and sending out rays of light

• An attractive combination of good health & happiness

Hmmm…sounds nice doesn’t it?

Let me explain the idea of the concept of a Radiance Scale.  Draw a series of embedded circles.  Put at least 5 circles with each one somewhat larger until you have filled up your page.

YOU are at the base or core of the Scale. You will want to consider how metaphorically ‘radiant’ you are (using our previous definition, i.e.,

• The quality of being bright and sending out rays of light

• An attractive combination of good health & happiness

Once you have thought about your particular radiance, you can begin to determine how far out you radiate through the various layers of other people.

There are ways of thinking of who else is in the various strata and how far out your impact goes through them. You could think of family as being near the center of the diagram, co-workers maybe being a little bit further out, acquaintances being in the next level, and those you don’t know being toward the outside.

There is not one way to think of this because each of our lives are structured differently and are intertwined with other people’s lives in a host of ways.

As you consider the idea of a Radiance Scale and make your own assessment, ask yourself these questions:

1. How radiant am I?

2. Do I display light, gratitude, optimism, hope, and delight – and at what intensity?

3. Do I want to increase my radiance so that I glow or shine even more? Or, would it be better if I turned it down a bit?

As an adult, you can exercise the executive functions you possess as a part of your cognitive system as an adult human being. You can use those executive functions to control and manage your other cognitive processes. So, determine your radiance and then strategically control and manage it so that YOU, first and foremost, are taken care of and then, and only then, can you strategically make an impact on others. 

You’re welcome to access the Radiance Scale diagram I have prepared for you (for free) by visiting Staying Positive in a Freaked-Out World.