Friendships, Rockabilly and a ‘Wonderful Ice Cream Suit’

Hello Monks. Rick here again. It’s been awhile since I that first article of mine and I wanted to come back and see what other bits of wisdom or life observations I can impart on all of you. I’ve attempting to write about friendships and how it related to the classic movie, ‘The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit’.

I pondered and wrote it many ways, and I wasn’t too happy with it. The story is about 4 down on their luck men, who have various goals and dreams and band together to buy a ice cream colored suit. They each don the suit for an hour that night and get into their own adventures and step up in life.

In my pondering, I tried to relate how your circle of friends can make or break you. One group may back you up on decision and motivate you to reach your goals or to support your decisions to push your life forward. Where as others will hold you back and take the ‘your wasting your time approach.’

But how do I relate all this stuff in this movie to life? Going through a social climate change and adjustment in the dynamics of my circle of friends, I found that there were many more friends and relationships I had been neglecting and new bonds I am building.

Each group is different and dynamic. Sometimes I am restraint and with others I am care free, and with another group I am very motivated and focused, but still fun.

That last group is a new part of my life. The local rockabilly band, the ‘L.A. Kingpins’ have taken me as one of their own and doing things with them has lifted my spirits and helping the band has only motivated me to help myself. Now this is a group that is interesting, this is a group that doesn’t have to ask me to do anything, I just do it. As if inspired by the growing friendships and the groups unifying goals.

Each person is unique and interesting and unlike some other people I have spent time with, I don’t want to punch any of them in the face, or throw them out on a frakkin Airlock. There is something indefinable about this group of friends that lead us all to do what we have to do for the betterment of the Band and for ourselves. This is not a ‘Whatever, your wasting your time’ group. This is a ‘Lets kick some ass’ group. They have lots of heart; all of them have become close in a short time.

These are the types of friends that can make a big difference in your life. There is no pressure to do anything you don’t want to do. Somehow its inspired by the vibe between each member. Sure there is a fair amount of drama and differences of opinions as there are in every group, but as a whole, it’s worked out and smoothed over. There’s fears and apprehension, goals and dreams, opinions and differences, but the main goal is common and the bonds that bring them together is friendships. Much like the characters in ‘The wonderful Ice Cream Suit’

It’s more than, he is a great Base player or she is really awesome on drums, he’s a great guitarist or that guy has good ideas. Of course these talents are important, but before that it’s the bonds of friendship then what we can do for each other.

It all goes back to my writing teacher Garrick Dowhen told us, it when something like this. That if the person at the top has heart, it will transcend and filter down into everyone involved and lift things to another level.

It’s not just that Steve the lead guitarist has heart, it’s everyone, from Mel the Drummer to Rich the base player and even to me, your friendly neighborhood Reckless Rick. Every member has lots of heart. It’s just that this group of friends just happens to be a band. While another group might be a film production crew. Or maybe your just a bunch of assholes who hangout. What matters is the friendships that bind you together.

I can go on and on, and I am not even sure how coherent all this is. I think the main point of all of this is to choose the people to ‘roll’ with carefully. Friendships can be the thing that lies between a bad path in life or a fulfilling one.

Hope that made sense Monks.

Sponsored by: LA Kingpins

What Most Idiots Don’t Know about Fear of Failure

“I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain” – Various characters, Dune

I received a special email a few days ago. An acquaintance of mine is newly engaged. She dated the guy for a little over a year. It was happy news. “Wow a little over a year”, I thought to myself. My thoughts drifted to an old friend of mine.

Several years ago, Jack was pining for a woman he worked with. He managed to go out with her a couple times. But the relationship never flourished; to her credit, she was upfront with him and told him she wasn’t interested in him.

Regardless, Jack liked her a lot and he was determined to win her heart. Every time he’d do something to show her how she felt, she’d rebuff his advances. Months passed and Jack continued to be in the same place of frustration. He didn’t understand why she didn’t want him. Most importantly he couldn’t accept it. What made things harder for him, so he says, was every now and then he would see her. They worked for the same company. They were in different departments but every once in a while their professional lives would cross. Every time he saw her, he would tell me about it and his resolve would renew. Over time I realized he wasn’t going to get over her any time soon. We lost contact a little after that because I got a new contract at a different location.

Five years passed. Jack gave me a call. We met up for some drinks and dinner. It wasn’t long before he mentioned her again and how he had overheard from co-workers that she is dating someone else at work. He was severely depressed. I told him this was way long overdue, but it’s about time he moved on.

I remember thinking how sad it was, within the time he was pining for this girl, I had met someone, got engaged, got married and now I have a child on the way. If only he just threw in the towel and tried for someone else. And now my other friend, in just a little over a year she met someone and is now newly engaged. He could have easily have done the same thing four to five times over

It all comes down to one of the most over looked types of fear, the ‘Fear of Failure’.

What most believe think The Fear of Failure is.

Most people think that this kind of fear means not starting something because they think it’s going to fail. That’s only half of it.

It all comes down to an old saying, “Winners never quit and quitters never win”.
We are taught not to quit because by quitting we lose. My friend Jack just didn’t want to quit, his ego couldn’t take losing his objective. By giving up on winning her heart so that he can pursue someone else he could be in a happy relationship by now.

Sometimes, you have to quit.

I ran across another saying, that fits this best, “Winners never quit and quitters never win, but people who never quit and never win are idiots”

Don’t be an idiot.

The Rocky Story Told By Tony Robbins

Sly Stallone makes up todays clip of the week. An amazing story of how he made Rocky a huge success.

Personally I would have went for the first offer. I think anyone would be crazy not to. But, I hope you enjoyed it anyhow, have a great weekend people?

Clip of the Week: FreeRice.com Feed the Hungry

Every once in a while someone comes up with a innovative idea. Here is our inspirational clip of the week promoting a way to feed the hungry while getting smarter. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

To help donate and maybe add a few words to your vocabulary go to freerice.com

Clip of the Week: Kiwi!

Ok, For whatever reason this clip really inspires me. It is also one of the winning videos from last Years YouTube.com Videos of the year. The clip is of a Kiwi, a bird who cannot fly, who comes up with a way through massive effort to create the illusion of flight. And I think it has a really powerful message.

Because some people were not happy with the ending I’ve included an alternate ending here to keep your respective weekends happy!

Have a great weekend guys!

Brought to you by:

Clip of the Week: I Can See Clearly Now

Hey everyone, we made it to another Friday. Here is the inspirational Clip of the day. The video ‘I Can See Clearly Now” with scenes from the movie “Cool Runnings”. For those of you who do not know, The movie is based on the true story of the First Jamaican bobsled team trying to qualify and compete in the 1988 Winter Olympics. Enjoy and have a great weekend!

Clip of the Week: Free Hug Campaign

Well I’m keeping Fridays for inspirational clips. The power of human touch has been said to have healing properties. And sometimes to keep ourselves going a hug is all we need.

For those who haven’t heard or seen anything about Juan Mann the Free Hugs campaign. Here is the awe inspiring video that made one of YouTubes Videos of the year.

For those who have already seen the video, hey why not see it again?! It’s always a pick me up!

The successful people I admire most are the ones who still give something back to those less fortunate. In our quest for personal development sometimes we forget to give to others. So this weekend perform a random act of kindness for someone else and tell me about it.

Spread the love. Give someone a hug! And hey if you want to give me a hug, just sign up for my RSS Feed. My goal is to hit 50 by December, help me get there!

Field of Goals

There’s a whole lot of literature out there regarding following your dreams. Which seems like a really nice concept. I like the idea. But, how does someone know it’s realistic or even attainable?

Seeing shows like “American Idol” you see that for the vast majority of the singers they have no chance of attaining their dream. Yet, they declare they’ll make it big some day.

On the other hand, you get a William Hung, who has got to be in the bottom percentile he makes it somewhat big at least for a small while. What if you’re a father supporting a wife and three kids, is it ok to leave your job and suddenly declare, “Ok going to be a world class painter”?

Several years ago, I met an aspiring actress. She told me about her dream to be an A-List actress. I asked her if she had an agent, she said “No”, I asked her if she’d been in anything, she replied “No”, I asked if she had any training or schooling in acting, she replied “No”, Then somehow the conversation turned to where she’d start, I said something like, “Harrison Ford’s first gig was an extra in some movie as a waiter”. to which she proclaimed, “Oh No! I’m not going to start as an extra, I’m going to start as the lead role”. I sat there thinking “This girl is delusional. But, good luck with that.”

It almost seems that ‘follow your dreams’ is really setting a goal for yourself. But, when is attaining that goal unrealistic?

When is it delusional or a lost cause? Comment please!

The Pursuit of Motivation

Lately I’ve noticed numerous postings regarding ways to motivate oneself. There’s apathy among many people. And I see many people answer these posts by advising to write down how they want to see their lives. I’ve always felt, that’s not good enough.

A movie/book that really displays intense desire and motivation is ‘The Pursuit of Happyness’. Here is, Chris Gardner, a man with a child who became homeless on the San Francisco streets. Because of his situation he was highly motivated. So much so that his determination and resourcefulness

Chris’s actions in the movie/book demonstrate intense motivation. Sometimes you really have to feel something is at stake. Maybe it’s the lives of your family or the thought of being homeless. If you don’t have that, it’s easy to be complacent.

How do you guys motivate yourselves? Can you think of good examples of someone who had to dig deep to motivate himself or herself in order to accomplish a specific task? Please share.

Featurette : Clip of the Week

If you compare this clip with the one in the theater you will that the camera was shaky to say the least, the video is grainier and the sound quality isn’t the greatest. But, I think you will also find that this clip has a hundred times more impact. It was played on the Marshall Football field for people and fans of the Thundering Herd where the events in the movie actually happened.

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