#The Sunshine Quotient™
THE SUNSHINE QUOTIENT
You can see it coming at you. You know what it is emotionally. It doesn’t have to be articulated. You know when to steer clear of that dark cloud heading your way, that person that looks like a storm. And you know when you want to meet the person approaching you, the one that travels with the light.
I have what I have been describing as a high sunshine quotient. So, I looked it up. It is a term typically referring to lighting gradients in photography and radiology. I haven’t found references to people having sunshine quotients, yet we have them.
And the sunshine quotient can be adjusted, just as a photographer changes the lighting for different subjects in different settings, or at different times of day. The lighting outside is always changing, depending on the position of the sun and what tree you’re sitting under or what building you’re walking by. The sunshine quotient that strikes me as referring to people comes from within the person. It’s a radiance, or lack thereof, that is evident when looking at someone. How much fire do they have inside? Is it a warming fire or a raging fire? Is it a peaceful light that comes from within? There’s a radiance, or not, at whatever level of lighting that person is at.
And it’s our choice. It’s how a person chooses to be. Everyone faces challenges and obstacles and tragedies. Yet how a person chooses to respond to and deal with situations is their choice. Our choices reflect our lighting choice, our sunshine quotient.
I believe that it’s akin to a positivity quotient. In my research, I landed on information about Shirzad Chamine, among others. Yet he floats to the top, and what looks like for good reason:
“Shirzad Chamine , author of New York Times bestselling Positive Intelligence,
Shirzad is the author of the New York Times bestselling Positive Intelligence. He has been the CEO of the largest coach training organization in the world, having trained faculty at Stanford and Yale business schools.
Shirzad lectures on Positive Intelligence at Stanford University, where he guides graduate students through his popular six-week PQ training. A preeminent C-suite advisor, Shirzad has coached hundreds of CEOs and their executive teams. His background includes PhD studies in neuroscience in addition to a BA in psychology, an MS in electrical engineering, and an MBA from Stanford.”
It’s always an adventure. I am currently enrolled in the NYC Certificate Program of Applied Positive Psychology. And at my tender young age. Yet I want to learn as much as I can, not only to shine brighter, but to engage with others that understand the same, even if they describe it in different ways.
At the end of the day, sunshine is sunshine.
Although I understand what Jimmie Davis was thinking when he wrote the following tune, I think it’s important that all of us realize that we are responsible for our own happiness, our own empowerment.
Lyrics by Jimmie Davis
“The other night dear, as I lay sleeping I dreamed I held you in my arms But when I awoke, dear, I was mistaken So I hung my head and I cried
You are my sunshine, my only sunshine You make me happy when skies are gray You'll never know dear, how much I love you Please don't take my sunshine away
I'll always love you and make you happy If you will only say the same But if you leave me and love another You'll regret it all some day
You are my sunshine, my only sunshine You make me happy when skies are gray You'll never know dear, how much I love you Please don't take my sunshine away
You told me once, dear, you really loved me And no one else could come between But now you've left me and love another You have shattered all of my dreams
You are my sunshine, my only sunshine You make me happy when skies are gray You'll never know dear, how much I love you Please don't take my sunshine away
In all my dreams, dear, you seem to leave me When I awake my poor heart pains So when you come back and make me happy I'll forgive you dear, I'll take all the blame
You are my sunshine, my only sunshine You make me happy when skies are gray You'll never know dear, how much I love you Please don't take my sunshine away
Songwriters: Jimmie Davis
You Are My Sunshine lyrics © Peermusic Publishing”
Aligning with the Sunshine Quotient that we want to have is all up to us. It isn’t always that seemingly available, yet it always is, just like the sun is shining all the time whether we can see it or not.
Catherine Chadwick©2017 re content not indicated as not my own