Forgive me if this post is rambling but it has been ages since I did this. Too long. Maybe it’s the fact that my daughter turned one yesterday. Or that work is crazy. Or that my plate is full. Or I just have a lot of things that have been pent up to say. But what I’ve learned from writing and life is that you need to seize the moments when they happen. Not after. And I’m inspired right now.
My friend Lauren, one of my oldest friends who I used to giggle with during study hall so hard we nearly got detention, shared an old picture from Facebook. It was from another old friends wedding and my mom had commented on it. And in true Julia Shumway fashion it was a loving comment.
My mom died in 2013. And what struck me about the comment was here was my mom still shining light all these years later. And she stills shines in my life on a constant basis. I can’t think of a better legacy than that.
At work, people are struggling. And I know that many many people are without jobs. They’ve been laid off. Had to quit. We are all at various stages of career journeys and they all have their hardships. But struggle is struggle. And it does nothing to try to diminish other peoples pain because it’s not as bad as someone else’s.
So I try to shine a light. To listen. Make a joke. Troubleshoot. But more than anything to see and hear others so they know they are not alone. That’s what shining a light means to me. It’s not really something you can quantify. You can’t really measure the impact or put it in a spreadsheet. Because true impact is in the way we make others feel. How we keep them going. Lift them up.
One cure for overwhelm is to help someone else. It might seem counterintuitive. If you’re overwhelmed the natural tendency is to try harder to get things done. But we just end up spinning our wheels. But often stepping outside of our own problems and trying to do something for someone else gives us the space we need to realize we are not alone and we do bring something unique and valuable to the table. When we shine our light on others it allows them to shine on others too. And it goes on and on and on.
Hugs.
