“Pain + Reflection = Progress.” -Ray Dalio
Pain without reflection is just…Pain.
And because you didn’t take time to reflect and figure out what to do better next time, how you can grow, you will just end up doing the same thing again.
Which will bring on more…Pain.
“The most terrible poverty is loneliness, and the feeling of being unloved.” -Mother Teresa
“When so many are lonely as seem to be lonely, it would be inexcusably selfish to be lonely alone.” — Tennessee Williams.
Right now, we’ve got a whole lotta loneliness going on. Especially here in the United States where the surgeon general called it an epidemic.
Every single time you possibly can, make eye contact with someone, smile and say hello.
Worst case scenario…they ignore you and move on by. So what?
Best case scenario…your greeting might be the only one they’ve received in a very, very long time. And it might change the entire trajectory of their life.
Do it. Don’t wait. Make the first move. Smile every time. You’ll be glad you did. So will they.
P.S. – Listen to Hank and Elvis sing about being lonely.
If you’re a leader, then I’ve got good news and bad news for you.
First the bad news…You’re not going to get the tap on the shoulder you might be hoping for. I know institutional validation is a powerful thing and it makes things way easier. But uh-uh, this is not for you.
Now for the good news…You’re a leader and a builder. Your purpose is to go find the others and tap them on the shoulder with this message.
This is what I’m doing and believe in to my core. This is why I’m doing it. This is who it’s for.
I believe in you. I believe you have something inside that is very valuable to offer the world and is aligned with this mission.
Wanna come join me and help build it together?
P.S. – Tomorrow is Giving Tuesday and Vs. Theatre Company is a 501(c)(3) non-profit. So your contribution is fully tax deductible. If you’re able to and feeling in the generous spirit, you can donate via PayPal Here or Venmo @vstheatre. Thank you in advance for your financial support. It truly means a lot.
“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.” -Henry David Thoreau, Walden
“Running for me was a daily pact I made with myself to live deeply and thoroughly and with beautiful effort.” -Rob Shaver
Goal: Today and every day going forward, live with beautiful effort.
Speaking of, watch this trailer for the short film The Life We Have about Rob Shaver. He was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer twenty years ago and has battled it ever since. Over three years ago and faced with a terminal diagnosis, he resolved to run at least one mile a day no matter what.
He hasn’t missed a day since.
You can do anything you put your mind to.
Live with beautiful effort.
P.S. – For more on the film and Rob, click Here. H/t to Brian Newman and his always excellent Sub-Genre newsletter for alerting me to this powerful story.
One of the cool things about gratitude is that it’s a limitless supply. You’ll never run out of things to be grateful for. And you can’t say thank you enough.
Gratitude is also a practice. The more you do it, the more you’ll want to do it.
With that in mind…While I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again now and many times again in the future…thank YOU dear reader. Know that I am very grateful for your time reading this blog, your comments, your shares and your cares. Know that it’s all deeply meaningful to me.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. THANK YOU!
P.S. – This Thanksgiving poem from Thoreau. H/t to Poetic Outlaws for it and the image above.
“You have the right to work, but never to the fruit of work. You should never engage in action for the sake of reward…Those who are motivated only by desire for the fruits of action are miserable, for they are constantly anxious about the results of what they do.” –The Bhagavad Gita
When you find and engage in meaningful work, you won’t care about the fruits of your effort.
You will be far too busy and grateful that you get to do it.
Give this video a watch. About 5 minutes. Powerful, vulnerable stuff.
Everyone is walking around with a story playing in their head. The practice of sonder allows us to have empathy for that.
Lastly, no couldawouldashoulda’s. No regrets. Whatever you’re thinking about making or doing, do it now.
“It’s not the mountain that we conquer, but ourselves.” -Sir Edmund Hillary
The best antidote for a negative thought is inquiry.
Don’t beat yourself up for having the thought.
Don’t pretend it’s not there.
Don’t try to force a positive thought in its place.
Just observe the thought. Without judgment.
Then ask it questions. Be super curious. Pretend as if someone else was having the thought.
“Huh. That’s interesting. I wonder where that thought came from….”
You’ll be shocked how quickly the negative thought will melt away. For it can’t withstand this level of unemotional inquiry.
The inexperienced actor wants more lines.
The experienced actor wants less.
The veteran actor wants none. They know they can say it all with just a look.
“You’re one of a kind… thankfully.” -Don Rickles
“After a while I went out and left the hospital and walked back to the hotel in the rain.” -final sentence in A Farewell To Arms by Ernest Hemingway
“I didn’t have time to write you a short letter, so I wrote you a long one instead.” -Mark Twain
Try to convey the action in one shot.
Try to get them laughing in one line.
Try to make the point in one sentence.
Trying is everything. If you need more, you’ll know you need more. Because you tried to do it in one.
Most importantly, your audience will feel this economy and precision. They thank you in advance for respecting their time.
P.S. – Perhaps the greatest one-take of all time.
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