Whether you're a churchgoer or not, this cartoon makes a good point. You need positive people around you, cheering you on. A dream network, if you will. This is vital in keeping you on track and focused.

Breakaway

Sung by Kelly Clarkson
Lyrics written by: Avril Lavigne, Matthew Gerrard, And Bridget Benenate

Grew up in a small town
And when the rain would fall down
I'd just stare out my window
Dreaming of what could be
And if I'd end up happy
I would pray (I would pray)

Trying hard to reach out
But when I tried to speak out
Felt like no one could hear me
Wanted to belong here
But something felt so wrong here
So I prayed I could break away

[Chorus:]
I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly
I'll do what it takes til' I touch the sky
And I'll make a wish
Take a chance
Make a change
And breakaway
Out of the darkness and into the sun
But I won't forget all the ones that I love
I'll take a risk
Take a chance
Make a change
And breakaway

Wanna feel the warm breeze
Sleep under a palm tree
Feel the rush of the ocean
Get onboard a fast train
Travel on a jet plane, far away (I will)
And breakaway

[Chorus]

Buildings with a hundred floors
Swinging around revolving doors
Maybe I don't know where they'll take me but
Gotta keep moving on, moving on
Fly away, breakaway

I'll spread my wings
And I'll learn how to fly
Though it's not easy to tell you goodbye
I gotta take a risk
Take a chance
Make a change
And breakaway
Out of the darkness and into the sun
But I won't forget the place I come from
I gotta take a risk
Take a chance
Make a change
And breakaway, breakaway, breakaway

Quote of the Day

“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.” 

- Dr Seuss

picture source: seussville.com

The FlipFold and Your Big Idea

Great things often begin with one idea. And that one little idea can snowball into The Idea. An idea that started with someone seeing a need and also seeing that no one was filling that need.

THE BIG IDEA is a great show that gives great career advice, particularly to inventors, entrepreneurs, and those who are starting over. They have celebrities and well-known career advisers (Joy Behar, Carson Kressley, and Jon Bon Jovi for example), but they also talk to "normal" people who just came up with a great idea and did something with it.

I discovered the show about three years ago and I have what I call my "notebooks of desperation" as evidence. I took tons of notes  while watching the show, grasping for something positive while I  figure out what I wanted to be when I grew up. It was at one of lowest points for me career-wise, and really, life-wise. The show helped me see that my situation was not without hope, a message you need when your confidence takes a dive off the Sears Tower*. It's long way down and you need help getting off the sidewalk (not to mention, serious medical attention).

Donny Deutsch is a great host, he’s funny and supportive. This dynamic is important since they take calls and messages from viewers who are really struggling and needing real advise. And he has great teeth.

I just found out that they featured mom/inventor Debbee Barker back in 2007. She’s the creator of The FlipFold. The idea came to her 10 years ago and now it’s a million dollar business and was featured on the sitcom The Big Bang Theory.

How many times have you thought, "I wish I had thought of that?" and the jealousy over someone else's success ballooned up inside of you like bad heartburn, or gas.  Well, the good news is there are more ideas out for you to discover, and Tums is cheap.

The Big Idea comes on CNBC Weeknights and 10pm and 1am. 

*(I refuse to call it the Willis Tower. )

Doubt.

I saw Psycho on the big screen for the first time today. I love vintage movies and especially Hitchcock so it was a treat. And damn creepy. And yes, that high-strung violin music is stuck in my head.

I love a good, well-crafted suspense story. Of all the different story genres it is the one that most involves the audience. It keeps you guessing and you have to stick around to see if you were right. Then there’s the pay-off at the end when you finally find out what the hell was really going on. The whole time you’re watching you are have doubts that you what you were seeing is real or true. It reminds me of my favorite definition of doubt:

...A state of uncertainty or suspense.

If you are seeking success you will have to encounter doubt at some point. This is fun for a two hour movie but not when it comes to life. Too often this is how we are about our dreams and goals - unsure. Like the song we are wishing and hoping and thinking and praying.  But not following-up with any real action.

Jesus, with disappointment, addressed Thomas’ statement that he had to touch Jesus’ wounds before he believed with. Why did he not accept it until it was right in front of him?  Why could he not accept the statements of his friends? We are guilty of the same in our lives. Why do we do this, even when others believe for us? Why is it so hard to accept that we can actually climb Mt Everest, lose the 50lbs of weight that has been nagging us, or keep the kitchen clean for more than a day. You know, hard to believe stuff.

Doubt is tricky; much trickier, and different, than simple unbelief.  It’s not that we don’t believe our dreams can happen. It’s that we don’t believe it can happen for us.

Doubt is basically unacceptance.

Well, in order to accept, we have to make room for new information. And in order to make room for new information we have to change. We have to think differently. We have to get out of our comfort zone.

Our doubtful train of thought goes something like this:

Should I be wanting this? I shouldn’t be wanting this. But…No, I shouldn’t even be thinking this. It’s so silly. I’m silly. I don’t have [INSERT WHATEVER YOU THINK YOU LACK] and then I have [INSERT WHATEVER YOU THINK IS IN YOUR WAY]. Better wake up…get back to the real world. I’m so glad I came back to my senses. Phew!!

And then we live unfulfilled but dependable daily lives. Doubt is comfortable. It actually brings relief because you don’t have to do anything out of the ordinary. It’s our favorite reading chair, or fried chicken and mash potatoes in a Chicago winter. It’s the Snuggie that Grandma bought us that we pretend to hate because we were too ashamed to be caught dead in it.

Doubt is a brightly colored blanket with arms.

More than that, it’s the brightly colored blanket with arms, snacks, a telephone, a laptop, television and a portapotti– we never have to go far and need to make only the most minimum of movements.

Imagine while you are enjoying your Snuggie warmth the temperature rises to 100 degrees and the a/c breaks down. It’s no longer cozy, is it? It’s now heavy, clingy, balmy, and…unbearable. It’s hitting the hitting the floor in seconds.

That rising heat – let’s call it Passion. A life of doubt needs the heat turned up. It needs a fire lit under its backside. It needs to feel like life is no longer cozy but a bit heavy, balmy, maybe even unbearable. A change is due. Passion tells you there’s another option, a surprisingly better way to live.

Passion for what you believe in and want to achieve is what is needed to conquer doubt.

And don’t act like have no passion, not heat. It’s what you believe in. It’s what excites you. It’s not what you should be wanting. It’s what you are, pure and simple. You have a whole list of why you should dream this and why you shouldn’t want that for yourself. Yet it still won’t go away.

Give yourself permission to go there, that there where your real desires live. Turn up the heat in your heart. This will give you strength and that help drive out your insecurity.

Finally find out what the hell was going on in the suspense story that is your life. I pray that it will have nothing to do with missing people and a little, dark motel run by a creepy dude named Norman and his mother. I’m almost certain it won’t.

LB Characters: Ugly Betty

Betty Suarez: (to herself) You are an attractive, intelligent, confident businesswoman!

Ugly Betty is ending its four season run on ABC next week (Wednesday, April 14, 2010). Betty is a one of my favorite fictional late bloomers.

I’m sad to see the show end. I feel like Betty and I have grown up together. I was a new mom going back to work just after the show premiered. I was broke, carrying 40lbs of extra baby weight from being a new mom, and had a wardrobe that didn't stand up to the smart clothes worn by my ad agency colleagues. My regular clothes were too small and my fat clothes were too big. I was a mess. I was Ugly Betty.

Although Betty was accomplished academically, she needed help with her appearance and needed to learn a few things about how the real world works. Her career began with a questionable start. She was hired because the company president did not consider her attractive enough to tempt his son, an infamous womanizer and her would-be boss. The show hilariously spoofed the fun and the ridiculousness of the Vogue-inspired world that Betty has to endure (a place where co-workers shun you for daring to eat a bagel. It has carbs!). She's the David in a Goliath world, the underdog surrounded by the big (tall and skinny) dogs, the nerd standing up to the bully.

Given that she works at a fashion magazine, you would expect her to pick up some tips. And finally, after four years of endless wardrobe ridicule, Betty has finally shown good styling taste. One big deal for any UB fan is seeing the braces finally coming off! those blue braces off!

 

 It's been a treat to see how Betty has transformed while still being "Betty”. It’s important to note that her transformation has not been all about the visual. The show has embraced the moral that inner-beauty is more important than our outward shell. The outward is a means to an end but not the end-all. What is inside a person: kindness, intelligence, loyalty, etc., should be valued even more. You can be surrounded by people who make more money, wear pricier clothes, and who have a lot more “stuff” than you but still know that you are just as rich because of your character.

But feel free to put on some lip gloss while you are keeping your integrity.

In line with that theme, Betty Suarez grew up, learned from her mistakes and accepted herself, and then attacked the outside. To use a well-worn, though not any less appropriate metaphor, – she has broken from her cocoon in all her butterfly-winged glory.

 

My hopes for the finale: I'm all for Team Detty (Team Baniel?) to be together for the finale. It was nice to see Daniel finally realize he has feelings for Betty. (And I'm hoping for a Willie and Connor reunion. Those two are so hot (and sweet) together.)

Also, special mention and thanks to America Ferrera for her fantastic work as Betty. I began watching the show because I have been a fan since her debut in Real Women Have Curves. I can’t imagine anyone else playing this role. She handled every embarrassing situation and heartfelt scene with grace. It was nice seeing some variety in the characters on my TV screen. Well-played, America.

 
photo source: abc.com

Dream Your Own Dream

Even though this song ends on a sad note - I think the lyrics are meaningful and I've definitely can relate. Just keep in mind to never give up hope no matter what "hell" life throws at you.

I DREAMED A DREAM
(from Les Misérables; English lyrics are by Herbert Kretzmer)

There was a time, when men were kind
And their voices were soft
And their words were inviting
There was a time, when love was blind
And the world was a song
And the song was exciting
There was a time it all went wrong

I dreamed a dream in time gone by
When hope was high and life worth living
I dreamed that love would never die
I dreamed that God would be forgiving

Then I was young and unafraid
And dreams were made and used and wasted
There was no ransom to be paid
No song unsung, no wine untasted

But the tigers come at night
With their voices soft as thunder
As they tear your hope apart
As they turn your dreams to shame

He slept a summer by my side
He filled my days with endless wonder
He took my childhood in his stride

But he was gone when autumn came
And still I dream he'd come to me
That we would live the years together
But there are dreams that cannot be
And there are storms we cannot weather

I had a dream my life would be
So different from this hell I'm living
So different now from what it seemed
Now life has killed the dream I dreamed

A Boyle-ing Hot Birthday

Okay, money is not everything. It can't buy us love. And then there's that root of evil thing. But it sure makes for a happy day when we get a big fat check for our hard work. Just ask Susan Boyle - who just turned 49 and received a 4 million dollar check from Simon Cowell. It was the royalties earned from her album, which sold 8-plus million copies and broke records when it debuted in November of last year.

Today is Susan's birthday. For you who don't keep up with current pop culture (and why not? I must ask...) - Susan Boyle is famous for competing on Britain's Got Talent, a Simon Cowell produced talent show. It's safe to say the judges and the public didn't see her coming. They most definitely didn't expect to be blown away by this older, plain looking woman who was having a bad hair day and who claimed to have never been kissed (!!!). The camera catches people laughing and and smirking as she states she wants to be a professional singer. But she soon shut them up when she began singing "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Misérables. She ended the show as the runner up but this has not slowed down her new found career one bit.

I wonder if turning 48 a few days before her April 11, 2009 debut on BGT factored into her performance?


Check out Susan's BGT debut!