Radiant Words

My husband and I spent three days working on a two-sentence Mission Statement for our business. The Business Plan Template said to use "radiant words" to describe the purpose of your business. I'm good with words; finding radiant words is not a problem for me. I can pump out words like strive, seek, sustain and nurture all day long. But discovering what we really want to accomplish with our business---aye, there's the rub!

All the shining language in the world cannot make up for an endeavor that is useless at its core. Our endeavor has merit, but figuring out exactly what about it is useful and necessary and meaningful to the community and ourselves, and why, and how it can become more important as it grows is what took three days.

Radiant, as Merriam-Webster defines it, means

: having or showing an attractive quality of happiness, love, health, etc.

: bright and shining

: sent out from something in rays or waves that you cannot see

So, really, the business is what needs to be radiant, needs to be attractive and bright, needs to send out something that you cannot see. The business needs to be a big red balloon floating over the community, something people want to grab and hold onto.

Three days for a Mission Statement, but the Mission will take a lifetime.