,<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a9 Victoria Moran
\n(HarperSanFrancisco)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/span>Everybody
\nneeds some time to shine, time to be recognized, special, admired. It’s not
\nselfish: it’s human.<\/p>\n <\/span>Early
\none Saturday I saw in the local paper that a workshop for blues musicians was
\nscheduled for that very morning. I showed the notice to my husband, who intends
\nto be the world’s next great blues harmonica player. “I’d like to go, “he said,
\n“but I promised I would paint your office.” I assured him that the office could
\nwait and sent him off with my blessing.<\/p>\n <\/span>He
\nthought I was being selfless and wonderful, but I really wasn’t. You see, I’d
\nhad a lot of shine time that week—a couple of career successes, lunch out
\nwith five favorite friends, and a massage that had accounted for one, entire,
\nluxurious hour. I was full. When you’re basking in the sun, it’s natural to
\nwant those you love to join you there. But if you’re not getting enough of your
\nown shine time, it’s easy to be needy, whiny, and pitiful.<\/p>\n <\/span>It
\ncan get worse than that: the shine-deficient tend to resent other people’s
\naccomplishments and dampen their dreams. Sometimes, they sabotage the potential
\nof even their own children because their need for personal recognition is so
\nseldom met. Parents who want to keep their children from pursuing an art or a
\nsport “because it’s not practical” are in this category. So are those who push
\ntheir toward unrealistic academic or athletic achievements. They’re trying to
\nget some shine secondhand.<\/p>\n <\/span>For
\nyour own benefit as well as for the benefit of those around you, shining
\nregularly is as crucial as bathing regularly. You can get the shine time that’s
\nessential to creating a charmed life in myriad ways. Among them:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u00b7 <\/span><\/span>Indulge
\nyourself often in what you do well. <\/i>If
\nyou’re a good swimmer, swim. If you’re a good seamstress, sew. <\/span><\/p>\n\n
\u00b7 <\/span><\/span>Spend
\ntime with people who think you’re splendid <\/i>–
\nand who’ll tell you so.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00b7 <\/span><\/span>Celebrate
\nyourself. <\/i>Mark the occasions of your life
\nwith friends and festivity. Never get too old to have birthdays.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00b7 <\/span><\/span>Train
\nthose close to you to appreciate shine time by giving them some. <\/i>Keep track of their special days. Notice their
\naccomplishments. Never leave an honest compliment unspoken.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00b7 <\/span><\/span>Don’t
\ndownplay your successes, i.e., <\/i>“It was just
\nan automatic promotion. Anybody would have gotten it.”<\/span><\/p>\n\u00b7 <\/span><\/span>When
\nyou’re in the limelight, invite others to share it. <\/i>Think of those Academy Award recipient thanking all those people by
\nname.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00b7 <\/span><\/span>When
\nthe world isn’t noticing you, notice yourself. <\/i>Buy yourself a present. Send yourself flowers. Take yourself to lunch
\nsomeplace that uses cloth napkins.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00b7 <\/span><\/span>Allow
\nother people unimpeded shine time. <\/i>We like
\nto look at celebrities and make comments like “Nobody is worth that much money”
\nand “Why doesn’t somebody teach that woman how to dress?” Just for practice,
\nlet it go. Let other people shine, even the radiant strangers on TV.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00b7 <\/span><\/span>Welcome
\nshine time as a cyclic occurrence.<\/i> Nobody
\nis in the spotlight nonstop. Accept that you will shine, step back, then shine
\nagain. The moon has phases from dark to full. So do we. We’re fully valuable
\nthroughout the cycle. At certain times, we just attract more attention.<\/span><\/p>\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Everybody needs some time to shine, time to be recognized, special, admired. It\u2019s not selfish: it\u2019s human.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":177,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-239","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-delights-abounding"],"yoast_head":"\n
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