As I sit and write on a cold, dreary day in the Pacific Northwest, the word scintillating brings light into the gloom. In a mind-numbing, lifeless meeting, a scintillating person can bring light into a room. (Hey! That rhymes!) Conversations can be scintillating if they sparkle with wit and energy. Anything that scintillates is the perfect antidote to a person or situation that is fraught with tedium, melancholy, or inertia.
We all have personal energy that we bring to a group, whether it?s a family gathering, the office, or a committee of volunteers. I once had a former high school teacher tell me that my energy would often dictate the mood of the whole class when I was in a funk. It?s one thing to be vulnerable with one?s emotions and quite something else to suck the life out of a room. Hopefully I?ve matured. As an adult, I?d like to be more intentional about the energy I bring to others. I want to scintillate. To bring sparkle. To be entertaining by saying brilliantly clever and witty things. To animate and amuse. I guess I want to be my favorite vocabulary word!
If you?ve ever encountered Debbie Downer in a meeting, in your neighborhood, or in your family, you?ve experienced the antonym of scintillating. Wha wha wha? Life isn?t always pleasant, and it isn?t always easy. We don?t always get to choose our circumstances. But we do get to choose our responses. And we do get to choose what we offer to others in the form of positive or negative energy.
What feedback have you received about the energy you project to others? Is your effect stifling or stimulating? Is there a word that embodies the character qualities you?d like to inhabit? Find it and live it!
