-Nice way to title an entry huh? So why did I do that-and why am I using a pic of me “thinking” from 2009? Well…
-The pic is easiest to explain. One-It kind of ties in to this entry cause it’s something I’ve heard before, so it’s kind of like a flashback to me-just like the pic. Two-and probably the reason that has more weight-I was too lazy and looked too “photo unready” to take a selfie to use for this so… 🙂 Maybe next time.
-The link below is to an article that I discovered a few days ago, which I linked to my personal Facebook page. It’s received a nice response. As I wrote on there, it’s harsh…and while there are many factors to be considered, overall I find this to be true. This wasn’t the first time I’ve heard something like this though. Going back when I first discovered Larry Winget’s first book “Shut Up, Stop Whining & Get a Life,” (possibly back in 2009), I remember listening to an audio book of his-might be the same book-where Larry recounts a story of meeting someone backstage after one of his seminars. I’m paraphrasing here, but it goes something like this…
The man came up to Larry and told him his talk up there was great, but that “you don’t understand…” and then proceeded to describe how his situation was so different and hard and in the end he said “You see Larry-my life sucks!” Larry’s reply was along the lines of this “Well, let me help you with this. Your life sucks because YOU SUCK!” Just one of the reasons Larry’s known as “The Pitbull of Personal Development.” 🙂 I remember when I read that, it had a profound effect on me-and made me realize that if I want to make my life better, I have to do it. No one else can do it for me or “save” me.
-Surprisingly, I couldn’t find a video, or even an audio clip of Larry saying this. However, I did find this video, which credits Larry for saying it and then expounding upon it for a few minutes so here’s that…
-This also ties in to another life lesson I received many years ago. I used to work at Kmart when I was much younger and I remember going thru one of my “pity parties,” in part cause I really didn’t know how to deal with so many of the things that were coming at me from all angles. I remember power walking (I was quite “Pisseth Off” 🙂 ) into sporting goods and seeing a quadriplegic in a wheelchair, drool dripping down his face. The person with him was down the isle looking at something. I couldn’t help but stare for a moment. I’d read about quadriplegics, but had never seen met one in real life. Obviously I felt sorry for him. Worse-the thought hit me about how the mind of a person can be trapped in a body that can’t function unaided. I don’t know if his brain was affected or if it was perfectly normal as I was thinking at the time, but regardless, what are my problems compared to that? It immediately snapped me out of my pity party and I’ve had this in my mental cabinet for years to use in helping me get a grip on things. Admittedly, when my depression cycle hits me real hard it doesn’t help much, but that’s another story for another time…
-As Sean says in his video, there will be many reasons and excuses people will site for not taking personal responsibility for your life. There’s a lot of bad things that happen to people-some truly horrible things. While I’m sure there are cases that are worse, one that I site as an example of how bad things can get, as well as inspiration, yet still rising above is the case of guitarist Jason Becker. In the late 80’s he was a rising guitar star, making his name with Cacophony and being the guitarist who played on David Lee Roth’s “A Little Ain’t Enough” record. That rise was brutally cut short when he got ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) which not only took away his ability use his body, but even his ability to speak. He communicates with his eyes via a system developed by his father. In spite of that, not only was he able to finish composing an album called “Perspective” (released in 1996), but he plans on releasing a new album this coming July. This was the situation I had envisioned when I was at Kmart years ago about a perfectly healthy mind being trapped in a body that cannot work unaided. What are my problems compared to that? Here’s two videos to illustrate my point with Jason-before and after…
-So when I stumbled upon the article below, it brought back the impact of those lessons from long ago-making me realize that, thru out the years, it had been dulled and, in many ways, had to be “re-learned” again-and that’s good. It’s stuff like this that I need in my arsenal-and also one of the reasons I’m putting this on here. Also below is a link to Larry Winget’s site. He’s very blunt-no sugar coating-but that’s good cause you need that. If you’re doing something wrong and / or are sucking at something, you need to know that so you can change course; and you’ll know. You can’t fool yourself-at least not for long.
-Wow-this is kinda like an actual blog post I’m making here instead of my usual promo stuff-what a concept. 🙂 Maybe next time I’m “thinking” I can come up with a decent modern pic. 🙂
HATE TO BREAK IT TO YOU BUT YOU ARE THE REASON YOUR LIFE SUCKS SO MUCH BY BECCA MARTIN
WAYNE W. JOHNSON 