Bringing the Lamp

"There are persons so radiant, so genial, so kind, so pleasure-bearing, that you instinctively feel good in their presence that they do you good, whose coming into a room is like bringing a lamp there." Harriet Ward Beecher

As you read that quote, I bet someone comes to your mind. Someone that is so warm and kind, they light up the room whenever they walk in. 

This gift is not reserved for a select few. Whether we acknowledge it or not, we bring a presence into every relationship and room we enter. The pertinent question is not about whether you have influence; but rather, how are you using it? 

Living our best lives is opening the gift of our lives and learning how to give it to those around us. It's being the first to smile and say "hello". It's listening. Caring in the most practical ways. It's looking people in the eyes as they talk. And sharing stories and laughter, tears and sorrows. 

Let's not sit around and wait for others to do it around us. Let's lead ourselves and be the lamp that lights up the room. 

For you. For others. So that together, all of us can live our best lives.