How to know your life purpose in 5 minutes

I feel silly right now because this short talk was absolutely life-altering for me.



I think ANYONE "looking" for their life's purpose can find it here.



I have been wandering around with a very vague idea about helping people, and being enthusiastic, and being an actor, blah, blah, blah, but this talk (since I was brave enough to participate)  really helped me focus on the person I WANT to be.



You see, I knew that I could just "choose" who and what I want to be in life, but this talk really brings it down to 5 sentences. Please watch it. I'm now going to find everything I can on Ada, Leipzig.







I know you're probably curious as to what I said, but I'm going to make you watch it instead!

:-)

The comments on the youtube page are pretty telling also- people trying t find the loophole, and being scared to CHOOSE what their purpose is.



Again. I loved it. Sharing RIGHT NOW.

I got some sad news today

There I was in LA, pushing my son Pike on the swings,

thinking about stupid stuff- career, money, and whether or not I 

looked "suspicious" in my camo shorts and hoodie.

That's when the text came in::

"They think they found Rachel's body, but her husband is going there to see"

BAM.

My friend was on that train that derailed yesterday,

and she was reported missing.

I posted it on facebook, but I really just assumed she was lost

in a hospital or something. I didn't even think about her dying.

She has a loving husband,

and a two-year old.

 A TWO YEAR OLD.

That hit me, and I quickly felt a sharp, stuttered breath,

and a cough.

My eyes were suddenly wet.

I looked around at the other kids running and laughing 

in the park, and how many of them were with nannies, but

who would see their mommies later... 

and that Rachel's two year old won't ever see her again.

 A TWO YEAR OLD.

I quickly grabbed up Pike, held him close, left the park,

and texted my wife that I love her so very much.

SO. VERY. MUCH.

May I suggest you do the same, for whoever you love,

because you never know when it's all over.

And I asked myself-  WHO DO YOU WANT TO BE NOW?

Now that this event has happened in my life, who do I want

to be in relation to it? 

What does my character do in my story now that

this has happened?

Today, I want to be someone who has been reminded how

precious life is, and that the people who you are travelling through it

with are precious too.

And to be someone who reminds others.

I hope this email did that for you.

Also, remember that if something ever happened to you, that

people care, and would be hurt deeply- even people who

you wouldn't think of.

YOU ARE IMPORTANT. I SWEAR THIS IS TRUE.

Let Your Light So Shine Before Men,

- Bones

Question: What is the Soul? ANSWERED!

What is the Soul?



In This video, Neale Donald Walsch discusses what the soul is, as defined by the Conversations With God teachings.

No matter what religion you are, you may find this answer very interesting.



I am an HUGE Fan of Neale Donald Walsch, and I hope you enjoy him as much as I do!



Watch It Here

To the fathers and sons out there

In case you didn't know, I have an 8 month-old named Pike.



I don't know how you would NOT know that, unless you are just meeting me, because my Facebook has been loaded with baby pictures for exactly 8 months :-D



So, now that I have added "Father" to my titles, along with Actor, Author, and Entrepreneur, I have had some thoughts that I wanted to express:







I want you to know that if you EER feel your parents didn't love you, that you were WRONG.



And, if for some reason you think you lost their love, it is impossible- even if they just didn't know what to do with it, or how to express it, or how to be a loving person.



But those scenarios have nothing to do with you, or your ability to be loved.



I hope you enjoyed this.

The Enemy Named Disappointment

Disappointment sucks.

It's just the worst, and the higher your expectations, and the more excited you are about something, the harder the fall of disappointment.

The more JOY you're investing, the more GRIEF from the disappointment.

Now, I've heard that "attachment to results is the main cause of suffering", but that's for another post.

For right now, here's what I wanted to tell you:

Get excited anyway.

Get joyous anyway.

You see, it's really easy to dampen your hopes, to play down your enthusiasm, and to mute your excitement just to protect yourself from the soul-crushing, rug-pulling, embarrassment of disappointment.

You get news about something great, but you STOP YOURSELF from getting too excited, or too hopeful, because it's possible that it might not work out the way you want it to.

So, you ROB YOURSELF of the joy instead... BEFORE disappointment gets it's chance.

And that means Disappointment has won. It has beaten you because you bring it along with you and do it's work for it.

And the worst part- is that sometimes, because youve muted your excitement so much, you actually bring about the unwanted results, and get disappointed.

And it grows in strength for the next time.

ow, about the "attachment to results" thing, this is kinda true.

Because there's a difference between getting excited, and hanging all of your hopes on a single, particular result.

I went with some friends to a Phish concert, after not having heard them live in a while, and the discussion came to what songs we wanted to hear.

One of my friends absolutely HAD to hear something, and was going to be disappointed if he didn't. Another really hoped they did NOT play something else. When it came to my turn, I really and sincerely couldn't be disappointed. I was just glad that I was going, and whatever they played would be great.... even Guelah Papyrus, which is my least favorite song.

But in truth, I haven't heard it in so long, I might actually enjoy it!

Anyway, this has not been one of my most fluid posts (kinda disappointed in it!), but you get the point.

The next time you feel yourself trying to avoid disappointment, remember that it means it has already won!

This Is Genius - And so are You!

This is Genius- a spoken word poem with a simply directed video tells a pretty cool story:

The question is how far should we take that? We do need some basic education that we can all agree with, but how much of it? And where can we start to divide the herd... and how?

What do YOU think?



This Is Genius - YouTube

How NOT To Talk To An Actor

You're probably expecting some list of "Do it this way..." or "That was nice, but I wish you had.."

But this post is not about that at all. I just wanted you to know.

I recently became a parent, and so I've been reading all sorts of articles, books, and blogs about how to be a better one.

Some people think that's dumb.

But for me, I've noticed that anything I excel in- and it is a great many things- I have done well not because I follow other people's advice, but because I get enough advice that I get to CHOOSE from the options.

In other words, if I just go with what I know, then my choices are limited.

Also, by being a "generalist", I get to incorporate ideas from all sorts of places, and allow my brain to make connections....

I'll get to where ACTORS come into this in a minute, and it's not what you think.

So the other day, I read an article called How Not To Talk To Your Children, and it was all about the random, unfettered praise some people give their kids. Not in the "You're making kids soft" way, I mean the stuff that EVERYONE thinks is a good idea:

Like saying "You're smart!"

I mean, who can argue with that, right?

Well, it turns out that telling kids they are Smart after they do something means that the only way for them to go from there is DUMB.

So many people avoid trying anything they know they won't succeed at.

This is VERY true.

I swear, I'm getting to actors... just hold on!

In my life, I was labeled smart pretty early, and in Junior High school, I was in the "Special Progress" class, and we were kinda isolated from the rest of the school... whom we all knew were dummies. Not our fault- it was kind of an understood thing among us.

Then I went to The Bronx High School Of Science, where being "smart" was the pre-requisite for admission.

I've been around the label "smart" for a long time.

Anyway, I can say with absolute confidence that many of the people I know are PETRIFIED of being "found out" as NOT being as smart as they are assumed to be.

Myself included.

Do you see where I'm going yet with Acting?

So, the study goes on to show how these kids who are labeled "smart" and praised as "smart" when they get a simple test correct are DE-MOTIVATED from trying anything that may be a challenge for them.

However, kids who are praised for their EFFORT are not only emotionally boosted, they are MOTIVATED to try a harder task. You see, we all like praise, so if we can get it through trying something HARD we'll get it.

NOW comes the acting part.

For Actors, this is a one-two punch.

Everyone says that the acting business is tough, and we actors are constantly praised by other people for "trying to be an actor", and "good for you!" for going for our dreams, and blah, blah, blah. And if we're not being as successful as Tom Hanks, then "at least we're trying".

So we get praised for that.

Then there's when we actually do perform... we get APPLAUSE.  I mean, for someone who is feeling unworthy of attention (an almost cliche trait of an actor), that mass praising is an addictive, irresistible drug.

But then- the praise that probably harms and destroys more careers than any is:

"You're so talented"

Talent may kill your career

Because now- we should be rich and famous actors based on our TALENT as opposed to because we WORKED hard at it.

And I don't just mean a performance, I mean being in the business.

Kind of like "If you're talented, you don't need to promote yourself- your TALENT will make you stand out" kind of idea.

It even works to REMOVE our pride when we DO get a job because as we know- "Only the talentless actually WORK" becase they are "promoting", and "networking", and doing whatever "FALSE" things they have to do because their TALENT didn't get them there.

Do you understand what I'm saying here?

Believing in your "TALENT" might be exactly what will prevent you from using it!

"Unrecognized Genius" is a cliche, and the more UNrecognized we can be- then the MORE genius we must have, right?

So, aside from the praise- it's easier to be "Talented", but never be in a position to have that questioned.

From my own life, I am MUCH more attracted to parts that I feel are "within my wheelhouse" of skills. Now, of course that's a good business strategy in general (Tom Hanks will NEVER play an action hero vigilante), but maybe I'm also trying to avoid being BAD and "untalented" in my performances.

Fortunately, I've realized that it's always best to be the WORST in any group, so you can learn the most. How do we teach this to younger kids though? Especially those who show a "Talent" for something....

What about you?

Did this make sense to anyone else, or did I connect too many ideas?