By Samantha McKenzie

I’m just gonna put it out there. I love, love, love the sunshine. I love the one I see up in the sky each day (collective amen!) and I love the one I see inside of other people. I gravitate to the energy of people who are alive and doing something that betters themselves and others – big or small. This is the joy of the living.

I crave the harmonies of human beings and heartbeats of the unknown. I want to laugh at the things we regard as impossible and marvel at every day miracles. I search for vibes and pulses that connect me to others, even those in a faraway land. This inspires me.

It doesn’t matter where your passions lie. I recall a colleague of mine who was a passionate teacher. She loved science and she loved teaching. Everywhere she went, she found new ideas on how to teach the tough topic while also making it fun for her students. She was her own mad scientist and the students loved her for it. She’d turn a casual trip to the supermarket into a lesson plan in five minutes flat. And it worked. Her class outscored all the others in the school and surpassed the state’s requirements. She was on fire!

We’ve grown up hearing about this little light inside of us. We’ve been warned about hiding it under the bushel basket. Yet, each day, we put our passions off for another day, cling to the mundane and call it life.

Do you know people who frown at your success? They sometimes smile in your face, send you a card of congratulations, but when they are standing face-to-face, you know their heart lies (even before their mouths do)? Shine anyway.

Your sunshine is your high-five, fist bump, atta-girl to the Creator. It’s how you communicate out loud that you are thankful and appreciative and that you get it. Let it radiate throughout you girl.

Now let’s be clear. Your sunshine is not for show. It’s not tied to fame or glory, popularity or prizes. You won’t have to become the next Oprah Winfrey or get your own Hollywood star because of it. It’s personal and unique. It’s designed just for you.

When my friends, Todd and Valerie Warren, fight for public education and protest on behalf of children everywhere, their sunshine is on fire. When local neighbors get together and create urban community gardens, their sunshine is on fire. When my daughter feeds her entrepreneurial spirit and creates wallets, makeup bags, lunch boxes and hair bows out of duct tape, her sunshine is on fire.

Be the sunshine that’s contagious and use it to light your life on fire!