How Bright Is Your Light?
"I'm a poor lonesome cowboy and a long way from home." – Lucky Luke
If you grew up reading Lucky Luke, you would know that in the final panel of each story — except the earliest publications — Lucky Luke would ride off alone on Jolly Jumper, the smartest horse in the world, singing those words.
Lucky Luke was a cowboy so quick on the draw he could beat his own shadow. Think about that image for a moment. Not faster than his opponent. Faster than his own shadow. He was known as the man who shoots faster than his shadow.
And yet shadows can only form when there is light.
The absence of light is darkness.
The absence of heat is cold.
The absence of sound is silence.
The absence of love is hate.
In our physical realm, shadows truly only form when there is light.
In every interaction, you are casting light.
And the brighter your light — the warmth of your care and empathy, the voice of your encouragement and recognition — the more pronounced and darker your shadow becomes.
Your shadow is a measure of your presence. Your shadow is the impact your presence has on this earth.
So, is the light you are shining faster than the shadow it casts? Is it bright and warm or dark and gloomy?
Here is where it gets personal.
Outward light is a function of our inward thinking.
In our mental realm, we all have shadows. Our own shadow needs, like our need for validation, approval, and significance. Our fear of failure. Our fear of poverty. These can all smother our light of enthusiasm, care, trust, openness, and forgiveness.
No one is perfect, least of all me.
I know what it feels like to let the need for approval dim the light I shine outwards. To let the fear of not being enough make me cold when I intended to be warm. To be indifferent; not out of malice, but out of exhaustion and self-protection.
I have learned that the dimmer my own internal light, the greyer my shadow. And this is the shadow I don't want you to cast.
This is the crucial area where you want to be the Lucky Luke in your own life — quicker on the draw with the light than with the shadow.
So let me ask you, as you live as the leader of your own life:
Are you shining light or darkness?
Are you warm or cold to all who you meet — every interaction, without exception?
Are you encouraging or silent?
Are you loving or indifferent?
My guidance and what I personally strive for is this.
Shine more light. Be warm. Be friendly, engaging, positive, encouraging, and loving of everyone you meet.
Treat everyone you meet as the most important person on earth — because they are, to you, at that moment in time.
Always.
Shine your light. Sharpen your shadow.
This week's reflection:
Think about the last three interactions you had as a leader today. What shadow did you cast — and was it the one you intended?
Gary Good, Founder — LeaderLegacy