Thinking for a Change #3

1. All success or failure in life is based on two things, the people you meet and the books you read.
  This is one of my favorite truths about life.  I heard this from a motivational speaker on a tape series I bought years ago.  I think his name was Charlie “Tremendous” Jones.  In case that wasn’t him, he’s still a great guy to credit it to.

I’ve used the phase in school shows for both elementary and high school age.  I’ve shared it with adult audiences and I’ve tried to live by it myself.  I have found that it really applies to everyone in both a secular and spiritual manner.  I believe with all my heart that if children were taught this truth repeatedly in the early years they would make better choices in their older years.

Take a moment to think about the phrase.  If the people you meet; are positive, encouraging, inspiring, and seeking your best you will most likely become a person with the same attitudes.  However, if you are surrounded by negative thinking and talking people you will likely become the same.  I know that my childhood was filled with negative people with an occasional positive influence.  It was those positive people that meant the most to me.  They were the ones telling me I could be somebody.  I credit all my success to positive influences and all my dysfunctional actions to the negative.  Therefore, it has been a struggle, and I mean STRUGGLE, all my life to overcome the negative.  That’s probably why I went into comedy since comedy is often negative. 

My story may also be your story, but it doesn’t have to remain your destiny.  YOU can CHOOSE to change your world, your attitude, and your future.  It isn’t easy but it’s possible.  I hope none of this makes sense to you and you were surrounded by positive influences.  However, I’m probably preaching to more negatively influenced people than positive.  Magicians as a group tend to suffer with low self-esteem, which drives them toward magic because it gives them a boost of superiority.  I may offend some with that statement but I’ve found it to be true in the majority of the magician’s I’ve met including myself.  So, I whole-heartedly agree that it is the people we meet that will determine our beginning in life but it’s the choices we make that will determine our future.

One of those positive choices is the information we use to fill our mind, the books we read.  There’s an old expression in the computer world, garbage in, garbage out.  It’s true of our mind as well.  If we fill it with trash or nothing at all we can only expect to get that in return.  You’ve most likely also heard, you are what you eat.  It’s all true.  Here’s a thought; which side of the television glass are you on?  If you’re on the outside you’re watching other people fulfill their dreams, even in the case of reality TV, although I don’t consider it much of a dream.  But if you’re ON the TV (an analogy for living your purpose) you’re doing the work it takes to make your dreams come true.  Where are you?

Take a moment to think about where you are in life, what your influences have been, and most importantly what kind of influence are you being to others.  Consider this book, “Becoming a Person of Influence,” by John Maxwell.  It isn’t a magic book but it will improve your life and make you a better entertainer.  Just do a little thinking for a change.