Never leave your dreams behind !

Welcome to 123^rd Monday Musings !

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This is a true story of a Hollywood star !

The fun began on January 17th 1962, Jim was born to Kathleen and Percy and the youngest of 4 he grew up in a house filled with laughter and fun.

His parents often suffered from ill health and the young Jim would clown around to bring smiles to their faces and to stand out from his siblings, Rita, Pat and John. A skill he was to take to school in return for his good behavior.

The laughter however took a blow when Percy lost his safe job as an accountant when he was 52, plunging the family into dire financial straits.

This was a huge blow for the mild mannered Percy who had given up musical dreams in favor of family security.

They lost their home and when Jim was in 8th grade the family was forced to enter one of their bleakest periods, as they agreed to work as factory caretakers and cleaners, in return for secured accommodation.

This meant Jim too, who struggled with working an 8 hour evening shift with schoolwork.

Inevitably the A grade student began to fail and this showed in his behavior in the community. He decided he had no option but to leave school.

Eventually the family decided the hostility between fellow factory workers and their general unhappiness was too much to bear and they moved into a VW camper van.

Despite the cramped space the family was happier again and Percy and Jim began to explore Jim's comedic talents.

His father would help him put together stage acts and drive him to Toronto to debut at the comedy club YukYuk’s. This never took off which made him start doubting his abilities.

Things became even worse when his family started experiencing financial difficulties which made it hard for them to support his ambitions.

However Jim never quit on his dreams

They however moved into a new home and Jim went back on stage with more confidence and better polished act. He found himself opening mic nights and later became a regular paid comedian in the shows.

His star was now beginning to shine.

He moved to LA shortly after, where he would park on Mulholland Drive every night and visualize his success.

One of these nights he wrote himself a check for $10,000,000 for “Acting Services Rendered,” which he dated for Thanksgiving 1995.

Jim kept on following his dreams

Jim did side roles in many low budget Hollywood movies, then came "Earth Girls are Easy".

Despite being an unimpressive movie Jim made an impression on co-star Damon Wayans who recommended Jim to his brother for a new show "In Living Color".

This was to be his big chance. The role led to Jim’s Unnatural Act in 1991 and led to a role in Fox's Emmy nominated TV film "Doing Time on Maple Drive".

A serious role in which he played a young man with a serious drinking problem, it showcased Jim's straight acting talents but he continued with "In Living Color", sticking with comedy for the meantime. (As being comedian was his dream)

And after doing a string of side roles in many low budget Hollywood flicks, Jim shot to fame with the “Ace Ventura Series”, and the rest as they say is history.

After his success, Jim actually wrote himself a $10 million cheque. When his father passed away in 1994, he slipped the cheque into his father’s pocket in the casket before burial

I think by now you have figured out that I am talking about “Jim Carrey” the actor who deliver many successful Hollywood movies ‘The Mask’,’ Dumb and Dumber’, ‘Liar Liar’, ‘The Truman Show’ and’ Bruce Almighty’ are my all-time favorites

Moral of the story :

Never leave your dream behind !

"If you have a dream, don’t just sit there. Gather courage to believe that you can succeed and leave no stone unturned to make it a reality."

Make it a great Week !

Shailesh

The 'Chosen Ones' Choose Themselves !

Welcome to 122^nd Monday Musings !

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This is a true story of a famous author, and it's not hard to guess that  about whom I am talking !

The lady whom we know as a successful billionaire, didn’t have an easy life to reach there.  Her name is Joanne.

Joanne’s earlier life was not easy,  she had a difficult relationship with her father and they hadn’t spoken in years,

At 25, Joanne lost her mother, having seen her mother die after suffering a long time from multiple sclerosis moves to Portugal for a job and met her then future husband. but the marriage collapsed after six months.

After her divorce she moved from Portugal to Edinburgh, Scotland near her sister. The failed marriage with Portugal TV journalist Jorge Arantes caused her so much misery that she suffered clinical depression and she went as far as to contemplate suicide.

Trying to survive in Scotland, she tried her luck in a career in teaching English as a foreign language. However, in order to get the post, she needed further postgraduate certification, which required her to study full-time for one year. She matriculated herself into this course She had to rely on  benefits through the state welfare support

This is the time when she saw herself as a failure. She had a failed marriage, she had no permanent work, and she had a young daughter to take care of.

But during this rock-bottom time, she realized she still had a wonderful daughter, an old typewriter, and an idea that would become the foundation for rebuilding her life.

Joanne had interest in writing , even she wrote a story when she was 6 years old.

During her welfare support she started writing a story book.

She fought to provide for her daughter and while doing so, she completes her first book, This was produced on an old manual typewriter, and much of it was written in cafes, because she had to take her young daughter out on walks to get her to fall asleep to then give her the time for creativity.

So Joanne completed her book but still it was not end of her struggle,

She started approaching publishers, but every publisher she approached has rejected her manuscript. She didn’t give up , she almost approached 12 publishers but no result

A year later she was given the green light by Barry Cunningham from Bloomsbury, who agreed to publish the book but insisted she get a day job cause there was no money in children’s books. Also insisted to use her initials name because it was thought that young boys wouldn't read a fantasy series written by a female.

And Joanne had no middle name, so she used, her paternal grandmother's name Kathleen as her middle name.

So her name full name became Joanne Kathleen Rowling , and Initials were J.K. Rowling.

Do I need to tell you which book she wrote, It was “Harry Potter“

Rest is history !

Moral of the story :

According to Forbes, Rowling is the first author in history to earn more than $1 billion from writing book

Here’s how J.K. Rowling describes this process of dealing with the hardships of her life…

Failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy to finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one area where I truly belonged. I was set free, because my greatest fear had been realized, and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter, and a big idea. And so rock bottom became a solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.
— J.K. Rowling, 2008 Harvard Commencement Address

The “Chosen Ones” Choose Themselves

We often assume that successful people got to where they are because they went to the right school or knew the right person or had the right genetics or stumbled into the right job at the right time.

It’s easier to think about success this way because then you can say that these people were lucky to have certain advantages and you weren’t, and that’s what made the difference.

And the truth is, yes, luck does play a role in life. But luck is just an opportunity. It’s just an open door. You have to decide to walk through it and to make something of it.

The people who end up looking like the “chosen ones” — the best-selling authors, the successful business owners, the elite athletes, the talented artists — are successful first and foremost because they chose themselves before they had any measure of success.

And that’s the piece of success that isn’t as easy to accept because it often means betting on yourself when you feel like a failure.

I think there are many goals in life that require this type of struggle. For J.K. Rowling, it meant choosing to be a writer when she was a poor, single mother without a job. For you, it might mean choosing yourself when…

•                   you have no connections

•                   you are inexperienced and unproven

•                   you are poor and lack resources

•                   you are out of shape and overweight

Successful people don’t wait to be tapped, chosen, appointed, or nominated. They start before they feel ready.

They tell themselves, “It doesn’t matter whether or not it’s my fault that I’m here. This is who I am and it’s my responsibility to do something about it.”

The chosen ones choose themselves !

Make it a great Week !

Shailesh

Man who didn't give up !

Welcome to 121^st Monday Musings !

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This is a story of ‘Super Star’.

During birth, a wrong gynecological procedure caused him to have one sided paralysis.

At school, his middle class being and his facial paralysis became a think for others to make fun off. He joined body-building because he wanted to frighten those who bullied him.

Slowly he started thinking of a career in movies.

Around 1974, he had a pregnant wife, a dog that he loved a lot, a lot of bills to pay and no success in his movie career.

What he still had was a belief in his dream that he will make it big.

Soon a time came when he went broke. He was heavily under debt.  Restless, anxious, stressed and still loaded with hope that he will make it big.

Things got so bad that he had sold his wife’s jewelry and ended homeless.  Yes, he slept at the New York bus station for 3 days.

Unable to pay rent or afford food. His lowest point came when he tried to sell his dog at the liquor store to any stranger. He didn’t have money to feed the dog anymore. He sold it at $25 only. He says he walked away crying.

Two weeks later, on TV he watched a boxing match between Mohammed Ali and Chuck Wepner.

That match was like a flash of divine inspiration…

For the next 20 hours he sat and wrote the script of what today is a cult movie, (Movie name to be revealed later, to maintain curiosity) ¹

In the words of his own, "After nearly 1500 rejections", he got a production house to offer $125,000 for the script.

Despite the poverty, pains, pregnant wife and lost dog. His dream was to STAR in the movie as the MAIN LEAD.

In an era when heroes were common man and spoke fluently, a body builder with a facial paralysis that made him stammer while speaking. The studio Bluntly rejected his offer, and said They wanted a REAL STAR.

They said he "Looked funny and talked funny".

He left with his script with another failure.

After few weeks later, the studio offered him $250,000 for the script. He refused.   They even offered $350,000. He still refused. They wanted his movie. But NOT him. He said NO. He had to be IN THAT MOVIE.

At that time everyone was pushing him to accept. It would be MAD not to do so.. He was making a fortune.

He still refused.

Someone in the studio really loved his script, and as fortune favors the brave. They finally accepted to $35,000 for the script and him as the lead star.

The rest as they say is history!

The movie was made for $1 million and went to make around $200 million. The movie won Best Picture, Best Directing and Best Film Editing at the prestigious Oscar Awards.

He was even nominated for BEST ACTOR! The Movie was even inducted into the American National Film Registry as one of the greatest movies ever!

Our hero was a "bankable" hero for the next 20yrs, till the late 90's… with his movies having made billions of dollars.

And do You know the first thing he bought with the $35,000?

THE DOG HE SOLD. Yes,  LOVED HIS DOG SO MUCH that he stood at the liquor store for 3 days waiting for the man he sold his dog to.

And on the 3rd day, he saw the man coming with the dog.  He explained why he sold the dog and begged for the dog back.

The man refused. He offered him $100. The man refused. He offered him $500. And the guy refused. Yes, he refused even $1000. And,

Believe it or Not, He had to pay $15,000 for the same, same dog he sold at $25 only! And he finally got his dog back!

And now it’s time to reveal the our star, He is none other than “Sylvester Stallone”

¹The First movie he wrote and acted was Rocky !

Moral of the story :

And in the words of rocky balboa –

Life is tough. Opportunities will pass you by, just because you are a NOBODY. People will want your products but NOT YOU. It’s a tough world. If you aint already famous, or rich or "connected",You will find it rough.

Doors will be shut on You. People will steal your glory and crash your hopes. You will push and push. And yet NOTHING WILL HAPPEN. And then your hopes will be crashed. You will be broke. Damn broke. You will do odd jobs for survival. You will be unable to feed yourself. And Yes, you may end up sleeping in the streets. It happens. Yes, it does.

BUT NEVER LET THEM CRUSH THAT DREAM. Whatever happens to You, Keep Dreaming. Even when they crush your hopes, Keep Dreaming. Even when they turn you away, Keep Dreaming. Even when they shut you down, Keep Dreaming.

NO ONE KNOWS WHAT YOU ARE CAPABLE OF EXCEPT YOURSELF! People will judge You by HOW you look. And by WHAT You have.

But please, Fight on! Fight for Your place in history. Fight for your glory. NEVER EVER GIVE UP!

Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place and I don't care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard ya hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!":- Sylvester Stallone, Rocky Balboa

Keep Up the Fight. Keep your dreams and hope alive. Go get it.

No matter how hard is it to achieve your dream,  go for it, Never Give Up.

Make it a great Week !

Shailesh

Meaningless Goal !

Welcome to 120^th Monday Musings !

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A farmer had a dog who used to sit by the roadside waiting for vehicles to come around.

As soon as one came he would run down the road, barking and trying to overtake it.

One day a neighbor asked the farmer “Do you think your dog is ever going to catch a car?”

The farmer replied, “That is not what bothers me. What bothers me is what he would do if he ever caught one.”

Moral of the story :

Many people in life behave like that dog who is pursuing meaningless goals, and In the pursuit of meaningless goal, people loose their vision.

A person having no vision is worse than a blind.

A blind person asked Swami Vivekanand :

"Can there be anything worse than losing eye sight?"

He replied:  "Yes, losing your vision!"

Setting a goal is not the main thing. It is deciding how you will go about achieving it and staying with that plan. "~ Tom Landry

The first thing you need to ask with yourself is :-

Remember :

Make it a great Week !

Shailesh

A True Friend !

Welcome to 119^th Monday Musings !

Yesterday was Friendship day so I chose to share this story.

A true friend is a special gift from God and indeed a rare gem.

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The soldier's heart was filled with horror soldier as he saw his lifelong friend fall in battle.

Caught in a trench with continuous gunfire whizzing over his head, the soldier asked his lieutenant if he might go out into the "no man's land" between the trenches to bring his fallen comrade back.

"You can go," said the lieutenant, "but i don't think it's worth it. Your friend is probably dead and you may lose your own life too."

The lieutenant's advice didn't matter, and the soldier went anyway.

Luckily, he managed to reach his friend, Placed him onto his shoulder and bring him back to their company's trench.

As the two of them tumbled in together to the bottom of the trench, the officer checked the wounded soldier, and then looked kindly at his friend.

"I told you it wouldn't be worth it," he said. "Your friend is dead and you are Terribly wounded."

"It was worth it, though, sir," said the soldier.

"What do you mean; worth it?" responded the Lieutenant. "Your friend is dead."

"Yes, Sir" the private answered.

"But it was worth it because when I got to him, he was still alive and I had the satisfaction of hearing him saying his last words, "Joe..., I knew you'd come.”

Moral of the story :

Many times in life, whether a thing is worth doing or not, really depends on how you look at it. Take up all your courage and do something your heart tells you to do so that you may not regret not doing it later in your life.

May each and every one of you be blessed with the company of TRUE FRIENDS. A true friend is one who walks in, when the rest of the world walks out.

The moral of the story is that “you should stretch your boundaries and try new things rather than listening to the limitations that others have put on themselves”.

When you find a true friends treasure them. Treasure them they are very hard to find !

Make it a great Week! & have a happy friendship week

Shailesh

The Eagle’s Egg !

Welcome to 118^th Monday Musings !

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This is a story about an eagle's egg and an American Indian who found it.

The story tells the plight of an American Indian who finds an eagle's egg on the ground, outside its nest.

The Indian searches for but cannot find the nest. Eagles traditionally nest high up in trees, so with the very best of intentions, the Indian puts the egg into the nest of a prairie chicken.

The egg hatched and the little eagle grew up thinking it was a prairie chicken.

The eagle did what the prairie chickens did.

It scratched in the dirt for seeds. It clucked and cackled. It never flew more than a few feet because that is what the prairie chickens did.

One day he saw an eagle flying gracefully and majestically in the open sky.

He asked the prairie chickens: "What is that beautiful bird?"

The chickens replied, "That is an eagle. He is an outstanding bird, but you cannot fly like him because you are just a prairie chicken."

So the eagle never gave it a second thought, believing that to be the truth.

He lived the life of and died a prairie chicken, depriving himself of his heritage because of his lack of vision.

What a waste!

He was born to win, but was conditioned to lose.

Moral of the story :

The same thing happens in peoples life.

If you want to soar like an eagle, you have to learn the ways of an eagle

"Most people go to their graves, with music still in them." We don’t achieve excellence because of our own lack of vision.

The moral of the story is that “you should stretch your boundaries and try new things rather than listening to the limitations that others have put on themselves”.

Make it a great Week !

Shailesh