Living the Radiant Life: A Personal NarrativeJames, George Wharton
Religion
Living the Radiant Life: A Personal Narrative
James, George Wharton
Conduct of life
So, then, radiation of the good of ourselves becomes an essential
condition in itself of real life. This law of radiation is apparent
everywhere in life. For, consciously or unconsciously, willingly or
unwillingly, each man and woman radiates what is within. The moment you
come into the presence of some men you feel their uprightness, their
integrity, their truth. Other men impress you in a moment as untruthful,
dishonorable, and unreliable. Some radiate confidence, so that the weak
and uncertain rely upon them; others the hesitancy and fear of
incertitude. Others are radiant centers of conceit and overweening
self-esteem, which is an entirely different radiancy from that of
self-confidence and true self-reliance combined with good sense and
modesty. Some people radiate gluttony, others drunkenness, others
impurity, others dishonesty. You have not been in the presence of some
persons five minutes before you feel that they radiate "Every man has
his price." It is a great temptation when I come into the presence of
such people to ask, "What is your price?" and then myself to give the
answer: "Thirty cents, and it is twenty-nine cents too dear."
During a recent little outing trip I could not help witnessing the
varying radiancies of a friend and the thirty students that he invited
to accompany us. One young man was full of physical energy, good nature,
and helpfulness. With keen eye he was prompt to notice any failure to
keep up in the less strong of the girls, and, with jollity and jest, but
with real consideration and helpfulness, he aided the weaklings whenever
and wherever possible. One of the girls radiated an abundance of joyous
healthfulness that made it a pleasure to watch her. Another was a
thoughtless go-ahead young miss, who led a large part of the group a
mile or two out of the way. Two of the girls were fault-finders, three
were radiators of efficient initiative when time came for preparing
lunch, and half a dozen were "ready to help," but had no idea how to go
to work until directed by some one else. One was able to determine
somewhat the real character of the persons by that which they radiated.
Of course, that is not always a sure guide, for one may pretend, or
affect the possession of qualities that are not inherent. Yet if we
lived the true life and never dulled the keenness of our sense
perceptions, we should be like the animals and able to rely absolutely
upon what we felt of the radiancies of others. Who has not seen the keen
readiness of a horse to "sense" the mental condition of the man who was
driving him? Suppose two men sit in the buggy. One holds the lines, but
is unused to driving and especially nervous in a city. He radiates
nervousness and fear, uncertainty and hesitancy. The horse feels these
radiancies and himself is nervous, fretful, fearful, hesitant, and
uncertain. Seeing this, his friend takes the lines. Almost instantly,
though the horse has "blinders" on and cannot possibly know by any
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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