For Women’s History Month I wanted to tap into words from different women, famous women from History…or for this month HERSTORY! These words are from Edith Wharton, a Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist, short story write and designer.
There are two ways or spreading light;
– Edith Wharton 1937
to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.
In this age of instant gratification, ordering online, and posting anything and everything world, we forget that first and foremost our best days are spent making the world better and brighter for other people. Which may require us to actually interact with a human in person, not just online. As Edith said, we can be the candle that brings light. We can shine bright by bringing energy, life, comfort to those around us. Be they family, friends, or strangers, no matter who it is we can be the light. OR, we can be the mirror that reflects the light we receive. We can remind those who make us feel brighter how they have brightened our lives. What joy they bring us, how what they do makes a difference, and we can encourage them to shine bright every day.
It seems like an easy choice, yet we all know that nothing is easy. Not really. To make things easy we have to let them become a habit, something we do without thinking. To do that we need to do it everyday for at least twenty-one days…and keep it going. So here’s my challenge for you. How do you want to spread the light? Do you want to be the candle or the mirror? Or both? It seems like a no brainer, yet it will take effort. On good days maybe not so much effort. On bad days, oh yeah! It will take effort. It will be hard to spread the light for people who rub you the wrong way, or the people who annoy you like fingernails on a chalkboard. It will take patience, joy and reminding yourself that your goal is to spread the light NOT change them. Over time it will become a habit, and one worth sustaining…but here’s the REAL magic!
By being someone who chooses to spread light – not sarcastically mock it, to brush it aside, hide from it, or even willingly blow it out – to BE that person, you have to understand the value of light and how it changes us. Because in the end, it will not be the people who experience you spreading the light, YOU will be the one who is changed. By choosing to be positive, joyful, kind, encouraging, even supportive – YOU will be a better person of yourself. One you may not even recognize.
So let us give three cheers to Edith Wharton who reminds us that each day we have a choice in how we want to spread the light…be the candle or be the mirror…you choose!
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