Even the most confident of us need help at times, and it’s important to know who to turn to in providing the guiding light of clarity, to help us find our way out of the darkness.

A Dayman, if you will…

Which is why today’s words of wisdom are ratifying radiance, a surprisingly meaningful and extraordinarily attainable goal everyone should aspire in recapturing for themselves.

Here on ATE, I’ve gone on a lot about intentionality, modes of being, exploring ones dimensions, etc. All of these little ways, shapes, and forms, that possess their own little nuance, that help contribute to a bigger picture “sense of self” as it were, when combined, synthesized, and otherwise thrown into the metaphysical blender of being as one essence, in helping to create a crazy concoction of existence that can help to define oneself. In spite of an admittedly electrifying sense of wordplay, ratifying radiance does have some radical relevance to any individual, in helping to frame what we care about, and why we do the things we do in a given day.

To wit; I was disillusioned recently about the kind of difference I could make, and was in need of a pep talk of sorts. I know there yet remained plenty of goodwill within me, but I was feeling just winded enough from running the metaphorical marathon of life and giving it my all, I had been too estranged from my own sense of energy reserves as a result, and needed an enthusiasm boost of morale to keep myself going. I sought out an individual I thought I could trust on the matter, knowing one of the hardest parts was asking for help, put aside whatever small doubt, ego, or embarrassment that might prevent someone else from doing the same thing, reached out to said trusted individual, and let em know I needed help; in essence, needing some words of wisdom myself for a change.

And I’m glad I didn’t have any difficulty in putting aside a lot of the hangups that may stifle another man in the same regard of needing help, as we all get lost sometimes, and need assistance in seeing what we may lack. Well, this individual was able to offer support, and remind me how to rekindle that spark of interest that I was in need of, in reminding me of my own mission that I had in mind, and what in essence, makes me, me. They weren’t necessarily specific in the approach of how to do it, as I wasn’t necessarily explicit in my own sense of what I needed, but they understood what kind of helpful push of enthusiasm I required to get me there, and provided their own interpretation of how to give back meaningfully, rediscover the fire within me to help others, and generally help reignite the spark of inspiration required to ratify my own sense of radiance, in the name of helping throw off that warm glow that might provide a light for others, when I myself was also lost in the darkness.

Which is what it is all about: going out there, finding out who you are, being your best self, and helping others do the same. There is an existentialist philosopher named Jean Paul Sartre who shares an anecdote about an individual asking for life advice, and the tl;dr version of it, is in essence, the one who ends up giving advice, points out to the person they kind of already know what they should do, as we often go looking for advice from the kind of person who will give us the wisdom we want to hear. Sometimes not, of course, there is assumption involved there on some level, and confirmation bias is a hell of a drug. But there is truth in the idea that our intuition usually provides a sense of direction in the sneaking suspicion of who we want to be, sometimes we just need that extra push from someone we trust to actually get to where we need to be.

So with all that said, and in that regard, I remind you now: don’t let that light dim, that fire within grow cold, leaving yourself without an energy source to do good and find a way to generate warmth for others. Do what you need to, in finding inspiration from another, who might be able to share some of their own inspirational warmth to provide the light you need to re-spark your own, so you can do the same for another. It takes a village, and I think we can all forget sometimes, you don’t have to go it alone, but it does take you needing to reach out to ask for help if you ever need. You might be surprised at who is able to help you find yourself again, when all you need is a little inspirational warmth in ratifying your own radiance once more.

As always, take care of yourself, and others.

~Pashford