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You are here: Home / 2009 / Archives for August 2009

Archives for August 2009

What Can We Learn From Johnny Depp?

August 31, 2009 by Joi 20 Comments

If you’ll notice the date when this post was published, you’ll realize that it was written 7 years ago – long before any allegations between Johnny Depp and his current wife. I’m not here to weigh in on what happened or didn’t happen – only those involved know for sure. I just wanted to point out the obvious – this was written long before any of this horrific news came out. – Joi

Here comes a blatant case of stepping behind the wheel of someone else’s post and driving off with it – in a different direction, no less.

What makes Johnny Depp such a spectacular success? Are there things we can bring to our own lives that’ll bring us similar degrees of success?

Obviously, since I’m writing this post, I firmly believe the answer to the second question is “Definitely!” The answer to the first question?  “He’s Johnny Depp.”

I admit it, I’m a movie fanatic – as big a movie fanatic as you’ll ever meet. Furthermore, Johnny Depp is one of my favorite actors. In fact, if I had to get my favorites down to just one, Mr. Depp would stand alone – dressed, no doubt, in an outrageous costume. I’m okay with that. So, I could go on forever and a day about the Depp. However, I’ll try to be as brief as my southern heritage permits.

What traits attribute to Johnny Depp’s success and could contribute just as beautifully to our own?

  • I M A G I N A T I O N. When it comes to imagination, Johnny Depp is freaking eat up with the stuff.  When he signed on to be Captain Jack Sparrow, the role was intended to be serious (hard to believe, right?).  However, Mr. Depp saw something else  – something no one else saw.  He saw the potential for the most outrageous, outlandish, deliciously entertaining character to ever sashay across the screen.  He doesn’t put any restraints on his imagination or set any limits.
  • B O L D N E S S. I suspect that Johnny Depp has raised more than a few director’s eyebrows with his interpretation of a character, Captain Jack Sparrow included.  Yet he doesn’t let anyone else’s interpretation interfere with his own.  It takes “to the wall” boldness to launch off in your own direction – especially when everyone else is looking in a completely different direction.
  • A U D A C I O U S N E S S. When I think of the things that make Johnny Depp a success, one of the first things that comes to mind is this:   He takes roles that no actor in his right mind would ever touch.  Willy Wonka, The Mad Hatter, Edward Scissorhands, a murderous barber with a penchant for breaking out in song (Sweeney Todd).   There’s a crazy boldness and confidence about Johnny Depp and, personally, I think that separates him from just about all other actors.  (Robert Downey, Jr and Jamie Foxx are right up there, though.  Sadly,  Heath Ledger had just moved to the head of the class, too, when he died.)

Now, on to the good stuff.  How can we take these threads and weave them into our own lives?

I M A G I N A T I O N.

I lack many positive traits, but one that I am all over is imagination. Mine runs overtime, actually.  If I were to sit down and give myself 2 hours to think of an idea for a blog or web site, I would have 42 inside of an hour.   Everyone has strong areas and this just so happens to be my strongest  one – few can hold a candle to me when I swing the pendulem of my imagination!  Truthfully, I think it could have something to do with the fact that I was an only child.  I spent the early part of my life being completely entertained by my imagination – I delighted in creating stories, personalities and names for dolls, stuffed animals, and so on.

I pretty much try to stay in a constant state of confusion just because of the expression it leaves on my face. – Johnny Depp

If  imagination isn’t one of your strong points, or if you’d simply like it to be even stronger, here’s a suggestion.  Set aside 30 minutes each day for “Mind Stretching.”  Grab a pen and paper and find a completely quiet spot, one with as few distractions as possible.  Once there, the next step is simple:  Get lost in your own web of thoughts.  Think of Johnny Depp.  Remember, we said above that he sets no limits or restraints on his imagination.  Do thusly.  Concentrate on any problems or situations that you want to achieve more success in.  Let your mind run wildly through solutions and ideas.  Don’t hold your thoughts back, let them be as wild as they want to be!

Make a habit of doing this each day.  Some days you may only have 15 minutes to spend with your imagination, that’s fine.  I guarantee you that something remarkable will happen:  The imaginative part of your brain will think of these sessions the same way my cat, Alexa, thinks of playtime.  She knows the times during the day when it’s time to head to the floor and bat toy mice and plastic balls around for all they’re worth.

Your brain will delight in the increased activity and will “step up” in ways you never dreamed possible.  The brain is an amazing thing – it not only knows when it has been given center stage, it also knows how long it has to perform.  And perform it will!

B O L D N E S S

Probably the one thing that holds most of us back is a lack of boldness.   We aren’t sure what exactly will happen “out there” and don’t know if we’ll be able to land on our feet.  Boldness is one of those things that tends to get easier with use, but those of us who lack boldness don’t want to use it often enough to find out.

Something that I often have to remind myself of is this:  If you never step out of your comfort zone, the view never, ever changes.

Sometimes we just have to throw caution to the wind.  I’ve found that more times than not, when we wade out, we find the water agreeably pleasant.  Charles F. Kettering said, “Where there is an open mind there will always be a frontier.”  We need to keep our mind open to bold new experiences.

A U D A C I O U S N E S S

When I was working on this post, I wrestled for a while with this word – Audaciousness. After all, my inner wordsmith argued, audaciousness is a distant cousin of boldness… a word I’d already used.   In the end, I decided that while it could be considered a distant cousin – she was such a loud, colorful, and over-the-top cousin that I couldn’t leave her out.

If there’s any message to my work, it is ultimately that it’s OK to be different, that it’s good to be different, that we should question ourselves before we pass judgment on someone who looks different, behaves different, talks different, is a different color. – Johnny Depp

Besides, within her lies the secret ingredient.  If coffee is bold – audaciousness is espresso.  Audaciousness is boldness without boundaries, imagination without restraint, and originality without hesitation.  Audaciousness is being brave and brazen enough to live your life out loud even if everyone around you is living their life in a manner that’s barely audible.

Audaciousness doesn’t make any apologies.

These are three of the things I think we can learn from Johnny Depp.  Things that can bring us more success – however it is that we define it.  If we combine imagination, boldness, and audaciousness, we’ll soon be living a life that’s fuller, richer, more rewarding, and a heck of a lot more fun.

If you catch me saying ‘I am a serious actor,’ I beg you to slap me. – Johnny Depp

Filed Under: General, Self Help Tagged With: imagination, Johnny Depp, Self Help, self improvement

A Self Help Lesson Courtesy of Booker T. Washington

August 29, 2009 by Joi 7 Comments

“I shall allow no man to belittle my soul by making me hate him.” – Booker T. Washington

Booker T WashingtonOne of my pet peeves is hatred. The crazy thing is, I don’t just cringe when I see one person hating another one. I don’t just feel uncomfortable around someone who hates people who look, love, or believe differently from them. And  I don’t just want to throw things when people show hatred toward animals.

I’m ill at ease in the company of any sort of hatred.  Sure, I know I carry it too far – I call it my Mary Poppins complex and I’ve carried it too far to put it down now.

My most extreme anger and disgust is, of course, saved for those who hate and harm children, other individuals, and animals.  I always wonder, “Who do haters think they are?!”

Think about it this way.  Everything’s relevant. If any of us hate someone we feel is “beneath us” (whether it’s in intelligence, wit, charm, looks, money, power, etc..) – do we not realize that there are those out there who have more on the ball than us?  Would we want to be on the receiving end of their ridicule or snarls?  Would we want them to talk down to us or make fun of us?  Would we want them to snap at us if we were to ask a simple question or berate us if we made a mistake?

No one is perfect and, make no mistake about it, no one has the right to hate anyone else.

I once wrote a post in which I said that we shouldn’t hate other people – under any circumstances.  I heard from a woman who listed about 20 types of people she hated.  When I said that we never know what others have gone through to get to where they are, she got so mad that I’m pretty sure I joined the list.   She wanted no part of anything that resembled compassion and seemed to cringe at the thought of loving others.  In the end, I asked her if she realized how hard she was fighting for HATE.  She said, “Yes I do.”

So, I hope she’s happy being hateful.

That’s the thing.  Since my daughters were old enough to talk, I’ve always taught them to find as few foods, colors, books, and so on that they claim to hate.  They were weaned on the Mary Poppins Complex.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it as long as I’m able to write, type, speak, or gesture:  The more things we hate – the more hate resides inside of us. At the risk of sounding like a First Grade Reader….. Hate is ugly. Love is beautiful.

Booker T. Washington is one of my personal heroes.  He was a brilliant, brilliant man with an incredible mind.  Unfortunately, he lived during a time when the color of his skin brought out a lot of hatred and ugliness from people with not so incredible minds.

When I think of the nasty looks, hateful comments, and cruel injustices that Booker T. Washington and other blacks had to endure during this period of time, it makes me want to cry a river.  You and I will probably never know the sort of hatred Mr. Washington saw first-hand.  But he wasn’t bitter and he wasn’t filled with anger and hatred.

Rather, he said, “I shall allow no man to belittle my soul by making me hate him.”

The next time you feel hatred rising in your heart toward a co-worker, neighbor, driver in front of you (!!!), family member, etc – remember Booker T. Washington’s words and ask yourself, “Is it worth belittling my own soul?”

Not even the worst driver on earth is worth that, and I was nearly hit by her this morning.

I’ll leave off with excerpts of an article written by author Sloan Wilson (“The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit“):

A long while ago, I had a job I didn’t like and a boss who seemed to me to be a major menace.  For months I would come home and tell my wife about the horrible new attrocities he had committed.

“I really hate this guy,” I often said to my wife, and when she remonstrated, I added, “He’s just a guy who was made to hate!”

It was right after one of these stormy sessions that I happened to read these words, “I will allow no man to belittle my soul by making me hate him.”  I have never been so strongly affected by one sentence, for in a flash it showed me how small and mean I had become.

At just about this time I began to work harder at my writing during evenings and weekends.  When I stopped wasting energy on hatred, I found I had lots more strength for better things.  – Sloan Wilson, “On Hate” (Words to Live By, 1956)

Filed Under: Books I Love, Daily Quote, Positive Thought, Self Help Tagged With: Booker T. Washington, inspirational quotes, motivational quote, self help advice

Taking Chances – No Risk, No Reward

August 26, 2009 by Joi 12 Comments

Hannah

“Risk more than others think is safe. Care more than others think is wise. Dream more than others think is practical. Expect more than others think is possible.” – Cadet Maxim

I’ve been thinking a great deal about taking risks lately. Life has given me several illustrations lately that point to the ripe fruits of taking chances, and the rotten fruit of refusing to take them.

As with most things in my life, I’ll begin with animals! We live outside of town, in an area with tons of trees and fields. It’s Heaven on earth for me because of the raccoons, squirrels, possums, rabbits, cats, and birds. We even get an occasional deer, skunk, fox, and coyote. Since the first day we lived here, we’ve been an unofficial resort for all of these animals. They know the rules – we provide the food, water, places to sit and/or sleep and all they have to do is look adorable.

It’s a good arrangement.

Usually, the cats are as happy to see us as we are to see them. They come right into our family and I grant them a perfectly suited, lovely name. Most seem to know that they’ve reached a cat’s version of Heaven on earth – complete with me, the poster child for cat lovers.

However, we get an occasional feral cat that is so wild and so unfamiliar with humans that no amount of coaxing, toy mice, cooing, or Whiska’s will reach them. I had a male, solid black beauty we called “Jet Li” that I tried to win over for months. This guy just wanted nothing at all to do with humans – so I’d leave the food and walk away. I even put his food and water far from the other cats, so he could eat in peace.

Unfortunately, he’s now resting in peace, after getting hit on a nearby road. He was apparently venturing off in search of something and his opportunity for settling into a family ran out. I’m not saying that it wouldn’t have happened if he’d taken a chance on us, but it is the first cat we’ve lost to a highway accident.

A couple of days before my husband had to bury a cat that refused to take a risk on us, I welcomed a new little female cat into our family. In a personal best, I named her before I even touched her. Hannah was in our front yard when I went out to feed the birds one morning. I recognized her as a cat that had belonged to some people who lived close by. When they moved, apparently “Hannah” wasn’t invited to go with them. So, like any thoughtless humans would do, they just abandoned her. It wouldn’t be quite as bad except for one thing – she had been de-clawed. After a few weeks left to her own devices, and pretty defenseless on her own, she was pretty timid.

I called her to me, but she ran and hid on the other side of the house. I came in really fast for some turkey (yes, dear, that’s where the rest of it went) and ran back outside. When I called to her, she peeked around the corner. I tossed a little turkey toward her and she ate it and took another step towards me. We continued the lure game with 4 more pieces of meat, each one thrown a little closer to me. It ended with her taking some from my hand, then literally throwing herself into my arms, purring.

“Leap and the net will appear.” – Proverb

There was something about her process that has stuck with me. She sized up the situation, then decided to risk it all. The small, clawless, abandoned cat was rewarded with a home and family that is everything a cat could hope for. She has her own bed, toys, food, fresh water, and all the attention she can handle.

All because she overcame fear and took a chance.

Two cats. Two reactions to fear. One ending. One beginning.

Another illustration of the ripe fruits of risk taking came from my recent commitment to exercise and eating right. Eating healthy isn’t a risk (even when it comes to wheat pasta), but for me, exercise can be. I’ve had asthma all my life, a bad back courtesy of a car wreck, and I suffered from a very painful foot condition called Plantar Fasciitis for nearly a year. In May, when two of my daughters and I decided to begin a regular fitness regime, I was a little cautious. I couldn’t help but wonder which part of me would fall apart first! I’m not nearly old enough to start worrying about that sort of thing yet, so I threw the concerns aside. We began walking, jogging, and riding bikes at least 5 days a week. Most days, we do a combination of the different activities until we’ve reached an hour.

As of today, I’ve lost 12 pounds. I’m not bragging, because to be honest, if I didn’t cook so many sweets and love chocolate so much – the number would be much higher. But, what can I say, I’m all about desserts…. especially the ones who answer to the name chocolate.

Again, No risk = No Reward. Doesn’t all self improvement begin with a risk?

If there is anything you’re considering doing, I hope you’ll size up the situation and throw yourself into it just as Hannah threw herself into her new life. She hasn’t regretted it for a second, and I’m betting you’ll find similar rewards.

“We must walk consciously only part way toward our goal and then leap in the dark to our success. “ – Henry David Thoreau

Filed Under: Must Reads, Positive Thought, Self Help Tagged With: risks, taking chances, taking risks

Taking Risks – Some Personal Favorite Motivational Quotes

August 26, 2009 by Joi 1 Comment

Turtles

Behold the turtle. He makes progress only when he sticks his neck out. – James B. Conant

You can measure opportunity with the same yardstick that measures the risk involved. They go together. – Earl Nightingale

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. – Mark Twain

The people who are playing it totally safe are never going to have either the fun or the reward of the people who decide to take some risk, stick out, do it differently. – John Akers

People who take risks are the people you’ll lose against. – John Sculley

You’ve got to go out on a limb sometimes, because that’s where the fruit is. – Will Rogers

Progress always involves risks. You can’t steal second base and keep your foot on first. – Frederick B. Wilcox

Trust your own instinct. Your mistakes might as well be your own, instead of someone else’s. – Billy Wilder

Nought venture nought have. – John Heywood (1546)

More Quotes about Taking Risks

Filed Under: Daily Quote Tagged With: inspirational quotes, motivational quotes

Imagine. Desire. Believe. Act.

August 18, 2009 by Joi 6 Comments

“Whatever you vividly imagine, ardently desire, sincerely believe and enthusiastically act upon… must inevitably come to pass.” – Paul J. Meyer

Filed Under: Daily Quote Tagged With: inspirational quotes, motivational quotes

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