It’s a known fact…we create with our thoughts and words. Problem is we’re so busy participating with everything else in life that none of what we say or think is making it beyond the surface of our skin.
My very good friend Tony from Wyoming has always been one of the finest guitarists I’ve known. Being part of his late 70’s teenage punk rock band fascinated my imagination by way of inspiring dedication and loyalty to take an important seat inside the halls of do it but do it right.
As much as it irritated a few of us to watch him practice his guitar licking over and over—hindsight becomes the master on the chessboard of life. Not only did Tony think about how he’d make a cover song his own but vocally he demanded that every sheet of already written music was presented as if it fell from the tip of his own writing instrument.
From bankers to receptionists to mechanics to ballroom designers—we all create with our thoughts and words. What makes us who we are doesn’t just happen…the canals that make up your lake front have carefully put into play the steps that make your world a reality.
Sadly, that roadmap has been irritated by an infection called motivation through intimidation. Forced into a life and style controlled by multitasking, everything you want to be doesn’t have room to be. We’ve become so dedicated in making sure our kids never get bored that 80% of us will enter the state of old age wondering what life would’ve been like if we had put a little more attention on us.
Baby Boomers are creatively basking in the warmth of retirement because they’re the final group of American’s who didn’t have to sell their souls to pay for HBO and out of control energy prices. Generation X and Y won’t know what to do because we’re no longer trained to think or plan ahead.
Financial advisors earn astronomical amounts of money protecting what little you’ll truly have. I constantly argue with my guy because he’s not going to have to live my life. I’ve already picked out the dog food I’ll be living off. I beg him monthly to please, please, please do everything possible to make sure I don’t get hooked on a buy three get one free can of whatever it is a dog eats. I want the good stuff!
Why is he in control? Because my thoughts and words are buried in a suitcase in an attic called everyday demands. According to author Lou Solomon, we’re too busy forgetting to participate in the creative process sewn into our words.
I can’t argue…while celebrating my 25th year of radio broadcast in the Carolina’s this week I stand 100% completely empty handed. I have nothing more than a torn paper sack of broken dreams to show where loyalty and dedication got me. It makes an incredible story to share with future talkers at schools of broadcasting but to the rest of the world…life as a jock is no different than selling used cars on a lot called Pete and Son’s where we never ask for a credit check.
Somewhere during these 25 years I totally took my eye off personal thoughts and words and gave my energy away for others to play with.
I love interviewing old school Broadcasters—to hear their journey ignites the fires required to keep on keeping on. Those blessed who properly displayed their sails while soaring across ocean waves 5,000 feet high carry with them a single tone and or ambition…it was and still is…all about them. And that’s the book I forgot to check out at the high school library.
Too often the bank teller feeds the pockets of the CEO. It’s the only way to get ahead! Is it? Ask the thousands of former bank employees who were kicked out the door a year ago. It didn’t matter how many hours you poured into the veins of the FDIC and its followers…the bottom line is the bottom line. They weren’t paid to think and create words of their own…they were trained to be actors inside an already prepared world.
Tony from Wyoming was recently asked to participate with my current recording project. He shot back at me, “I can’t be ready. I need maybe a month or two.”
Instantly I became furious. Selfishly I cleared the way for his gift of performance to make it onto a recording project and what I assumed was laziness didn’t play with the rules of a modern day America—never let the client wait, someone will always do it bigger, better and faster. Use it or lose it.
After hitting send…I realized how unimportant that letter was to quality.
I shattered Lou Solomon’s golden rule—I allowed my cruising through life to interfere with Tony’s way of thinking and creating words. Lou explains, “Great things happen when you choose your words and make a stand.”
Tony did what came natural; he dug in, grabbed the reins of everyday life and kept the power on his side of the fence. While holding true to his sport and the feel of the wooden bat…the pressure I put on myself ended up being what stalled the music project. Too much was being given to everything else leading the system to a seven week war against sinus infections and everything else that came with it.
We create with our thoughts and words. Problem is we’re so busy participating with everything else in life that none of what we say or think is making it beyond the surface of our skin.
Absolutely it’s a humbling experience. I tried to make the music project all about me and ended up losing in the end. What if I had done the same with my 25 years of broadcasting in the Carolina’s? Might I be doing a show in Pocatello, Idaho today?
Practice thinking. Create words then back them up. Olympic Gold Medalist Sean White is the world’s greatest snowboarder because he not only envisions his flips, twists and jumps but he puts his entire focus on feeling it by way of making it his reality.
Life would be so much easier if we had only one thing to do. The power of choice fills the plate followed by two scoops of guilt. In the end, the only thing we’re doing is teaching our kids not to think for themselves.
Tell them to get outside and tip the dog house over…then turn it into a space module headed for Mars. That isn’t just any bike they ride…it belongs to Batman and your child is one of the 7 marvels keeping crime off the street. Tell them to toss that tennis ball up against the garage and pretend they’re in the World Series and every pitch and catch counts. Instead of shooting hoops do play by play, it’ll challenge their imagination to think fast while speaking clearly for others to understand.
I failed in radio because I expected success to be handed to me. At 47 I’m convinced it’s not too late to get another chance. The goal is to play a smarter game. Winning is a choice.
arroecollins@clearchannel.com
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