Halos, Radiance And Importance

The meaning of the word halo is circle of radiance. I heard halo used the other day on a television commercial. They were talking about a furniture store and the sale that week. They mentioned you would feel like a halo was around your head because you would be so happy when you purchased this store’s furnishings. That would be a bit extreme for an advertising gimmick I thought. I have bought lots of furniture through the years and though I may have felt extremely happy when it was delivered and placed, I did not see a halo above my head.

I like to express myself through my writings and my specialty of tying in my or other’s life experiences with my and other’s ballroom dance happenings in our lives. Many experience special feelings when they excel at or perform exceptionable unique activities. It can be volunteer work helping others not as fortunate as we. It can be a sport hobby. It can be taking care of a grandchild while the parents work.

I know a senior citizen whose daughter got married late in life and had a child when she was forty. She wanted to continue working, so my neighbor took care of her firstborn grandson all day, five days a week. At first it was easy because all a baby does is eat and sleep. As he grew older, about two, it became harder. Her husband helped some. It was eight hours, five days a week, and being older it was much harder than when she raised her own children.

One day she was telling me how difficult it had become as he demanded more time. She did not want to tell her daughter so she continued. Finally, her daughter put him in a nursery school and the grandmother was only taking care of him two hours after school. I said “You must feel relieved.” She said “I miss him so.” She deserved a halo around her head for what she did for her daughter, allowing her to work and earn money so the family had easier financial security. Halos have to be earned.

Many ballroom dancing friends who encourage others to dance by their various endeavors deserve a halo. Theodore Herzl, a great statesman, said “The wealth of our country is our workers.” These ballroom dancers, who are also learning, competing, showcasing or just social dancing, who spread the word of dancing to others who may never have started to dance, deserve halos. This is giving the wealth of what we enjoy to other to learn to master it too and whether dancing or any other activity, it is an asset.

The specialty evolves into learning to dance, socializing when they dance, maybe showcasing in front of their fellow dancers and challenging their brain to continue to learn. Learning will keep our brain functioning and possibly prevent any disease from robbing us of our mind. That is our goal as seniors, to continue on and maintain our health and good attitudes. Ballroom dancing does not let our minds down. Our minds need to be stimulated. Dancing does that because one must use their brain to remember steps, arm movements, foot placement and holding our body in the right position.

All this contributes to our deserving a halo. How is that possible? When we preserve our body, mind and soul because we have been stimulated by this activity, which not only makes us smile, but move our muscles and bones, then we have earned our halo. Our halo is imaginary to the outside world. It is imagined by us in our world. In other sports, these same things can happen. Learning to play golf, tennis, and bicycling for charity or running in races to raise money for cures for diseases also helps our mind and body and halos are deserved there too.

Our world is what we think of our self when we are by our self. We may look in the mirror that day and say we do not like the way our teeth look, and get them fixed. We may not like the way our hair looks, and get it fixed. We may not like that our day is not full and fun, and then go make it full and fun.

However, if we look in the mirror and see someone we think is nice, good, and pretty as a picture, and that happened because we are happy we have a hobby or activity that magnifies and embellishes our thinking about our self as a person; then we are more content. So, ballroom dancing and other activities, not only invites us to be happy because we are accomplishing a beautiful moment, but it invigorates and stimulates our soul.

Someone once said “If we are happy with our self, then we can help someone else be happy with their self.” Then we will deserve a halo and the halo will be our circle of radiance. Put your halo into place because you deserve it. You are special and a good person. Excellence is rewarded to people who honor themselves because they deserve the rewards.

I have two friends who live in the state of Washington. She is about 0 and he is younger at 75. They are ballroom dancers supreme. For thirty years, they have been going to Hawaii and teaching groups of people to ballroom dance for two weeks that they stay there. The people are delighted to have them come and as they age, the two find it harder to accomplish, but they continue to go there which is quite a long travel trip. This keeps their bodies and minds active and they enjoy doing this for others. In return, they reap as much as they give and no one can see their halos, but they are there. Their names are Mary and Steven and when in Hawaii, they mail me postcards and letters as to their progress. When the mail comes, I feel invigorated because I know them and I am proud of the work they do for others. Last year, they sent me a photo of them outside a fancy Hawaiian house and I framed it and every time I may have felt a bit down for any reason; I looked at this photo and I got inspired again. Steven sent me a lei necklace given to him by the people there and it was handmade out of computer paper and it is absolutely gorgeous. I hung it on a picture hanger and it keeps me warm looking at it all the time. We were in Hawaii in the seventies and I have my plastic leis we got there. This handmade one is very exceptional because it came from a special friend. Steven Behr and Mary Petersen are the halo earners and they deserve them.

Halo means ring, radiance and circle. The imaginary circle/ring’s radiance is enough light to brighten many of our days. There is a soap opera called Days Of Our Lives and its opening scene every day shows an hour glass with the sands of time dropping down from top to bottom. I use to watch that soap opera when my son was about two. If I turned it on and he saw the sands dropping and the narrator commenting on it, that it was the days of our lives, he would start to cry. It scared him. I stopped watching it if he was not taking his nap because I did not want to frighten him.

Once in a while, I see it and think of that. However, the words days of our lives have greater meaning when we are older and we can appreciate the days of our lives from before and even more now with senior age. We can take each hour of each day and try to be productive because people are living longer and enjoying better health. Mom lived to be ‘only’ 77 and now that I became 79 in June of this year, I hope to exceed that number by many higher numbers. We have the opportunity to do so and the ball is in our hands. Shakespeare said “what gives my body its worth is the spirit it contains.”

Bravo for our spirit and our halo of radiance in all we do for ourselves and for others. I hope to become a great grandmother some day and watch many days of my life enfold and I wish it for all my readers. My halo is there in the mirror and so can yours be too. Do something for others and it will magically appear, mine comes from these entertaining and I hope enlightening stories I write and I urge each and every one of you to find your own halo and wear it proudly. You will feel radiant.