"Lights, Camera, Action!"

February 17, 2016

"Lights, Camera, Action!"

1. Light;  something that makes things visible or affords illumination.  2. an illuminating agent or source, as the sun, a lamp or a beacon.  3. the radiance or illumination from a particular source, as a candle or the sun.  4. a particular light or illumination in which an object seen takes on a certain appearance, a device for or meas of igniting as a spark, flame or match.  5. spiritual illumination or awareness, mental insight, understanding, to be awakened.

Have you ever gone to see a play and when you first get in the auditorium you see the stage and up on the stage is this huge curtain that's closed and wondered what is going on behind the curtain?  I have, when I'm sitting in the audience I'm thinking to myself what is going on back behind the curtain?  I know that there must be a stage crew, camera man, someone in the sound booth, a director, the actors, etc.  There's a lot of work that's put into making a great production and understandably so.  We arrive with the anticipation and expectation of a great show.  We know that we've paid good money and look forward to the actors coming out onto the stage to wow us.  We assume that everyone is rested, and have taken their jobs seriously enough to have studied and know their lines. The bottom line is we want to be entertained.

What about life?  How do we approach our own lives?  Do we wake up daily with the expectation and in anticipation of having a great day?  Do we put forth our best efforts in our lives to live the best life we can?  Do we study to show ourselves approved?  Do we learn all their is to learn about our bodies, minds and souls to make sure we operate at maximum capacity with energy, and vitality in order to perform at optimal levels?

Our life is a stage and we must awaken every day and approach our lives as if we are on stage and people have paid good money to see a great show.  The caveat is we must believe, think and know that we are the audience of our own stage production called life.  We must be prepared behind the scenes of our lives so that when the curtain opens we know that what we've done behind the scenes has prepared us for center stage when life says, "Lights, Camera, Action!"  Are you ready to give your life and yourself your best production?  

And, when the final curtain closes on our lives are we going to hear the sounds of the audience of our friends, families, co-workers and complete strangers give us a standing ovation and say bravo, bravo, bravo?  Will they say encore, well done thy good and faithful servant?

Love Always,

La La Lolita Lovely

"You don't drown by falling in water, you
drown by staying in it!"
~Zig Ziglar

"Others are quick to point out what you should be, but
you're the only person who can decide what you will be."
~Dave Steward

"Unlock Tomorrow, Today!"
~Lolita Jackson

February 9, 2016

Acres of Diamonds!

I read a book a couple of days ago called "Acres of Diamonds."  The book was originally a speech by Dr. Russell Conwell who first delivered the speech to motivate and inspire his troops at their ten year reunion and afterwards was asked to deliver the same speech thousands of times to people in cities throughout the country.  Russell Conwell was the first president of Temple University, a baptist minister and a captain during the civil war.

There's many lessons that can be extracted from Dr. Conwell's speech.  I am inspired mostly with the premise of the books commentary that lets us know that we must first explore our own backyards for  wealth, money and opportunities in life before we go out to seek and search the world for what we could have right in the palms of our hands!  Dr. Conwell's speech tells of many stories of people who give up what they have in their hands in search of wealth and opportunity elsewhere.  One of the scenarios tells the story of a man that owned a farm and by all accounts was fairly successful, "wealthy and contended" with his comforts only to hear that diamonds were being discovered.  The farmer sold his farm to go in search of diamonds until he found himself broke, distraught, tired and confused so much so that he threw himself into the ocean.  The man who bought the farm from the man found "Acres of Diamonds" on the farm!

Dr. Conwell dismisses the notion that money is the root of all evil and reminds us that it's the "love of money" that's the root of all evil and that one must have money and wealth to further the cause of philanthropy while allowing ourselves to live comfortably. We're encouraged to have businesses and know our customers to better serve them and know that it's not criminal to make a profit off of our earnings in business. Dr. Conwell let's us know that we should be vigilant, steadfast and we must apply ourselves completely to the tasks at hand while earning our keep without having things handed to us and if we fail or fall down in the process it's not the end of the world in fact falling down is actually failing forward and like Les Brown says, "if you fall down, land on your back because if you can look up then you can get up!"  Dr. Conwell spoke of a man that gambled in business and lost but he didn't give up, he kept trying different ideas and endeavors until he had only 62 cents left and he turned 62 cents into 40 million dollars!

Reading "Acres of Diamonds" has me looking in my own backyard asking the question of myself, "Lolita, what do you have in your hand that can net you "Acres of Diamonds?" As I look around I see and know how blessed I am to have been given the gift of creativity!  I'm constantly and consistently coming up with one idea after another that I know can net me "Acres of Diamonds!"

  It reminds me of a passage in the bible when God spoke to Moses and asked him "What does he have in his hand?"  I believe there comes a time when we all get to the "Red Sea" of life and we look out and things look insurmountable, so wide that we can't get around it, so tall that we can't climb over it, but God has given us a way, a staff.  We must throw our staff into the sea and watch it part.
 
Our staffs can come in many forms starting with the form of faith. We must first have faith enough to believe that we are equipped and worthy to have acres of diamonds in the palms of our hands that comes in the forms of ideas and thoughts that can generate the very thing we need to part our "Red Sea" in life!  Then we must act with a sense of urgency and modesty!

So my friends, how about it?  Let's throw out our staffs into our "Red Seas" and discover our "Acres of Diamonds" right in our own backyards!


Take Care Beloveds,

Love Always,

La La Lolita Lovely!


"You cannot make it as a wondering generality.
You must become a meaningful specific."
~Zig Ziglar

"There are seldom, if ever, any hopeless situations,
but there are many people who lose hope in the face
of some situations."
~Zig Ziglar