Ralph Waldo Emerson stated….”Do not die with your music still in you.” Very appropriate advice. We all have a mission in life. A purpose which unfolds before our eyes when we manage to overcome our fear of Boogie Man and just PLAY. Our beliefs determine our reality. Be careful how you interpret world. It is EXACTLY like that.

It is horrifying to think about how Boogie Man turns possibility of a dream into a nightmare. Or how Boogie Man distorts our own ideas of success and happiness by making us believe that he can stop music in our lives! All illusions that unfortunately every great artist has embraced at some point in their careers. You are Music. You are Dance. Be careful what you agree with!

Stop and think about what life would be like without telephone, car, airplanes, electricity, internet or any other incredible creation that man has created to resolve problems related to survival. I can assure that these blessed inventions would never have seen light of day if their creators were concerned about boogie man. The boogie man is not only a concern over judgment of others. The boogie man is much more insidious, he represents everything in our life that we cannot take responsibility for. Our blame list so to speak. The boogie man is that part of us that makes us believe that problem is somewhere over there.

The late Jack Paar once said, “My life seems like one long obstacle course, with me as chief obstacle.” Sounds to me like he knew how to do battle with boogie man.

The secret to all masterpieces is that they fuel imagination with great possibilities of human spirit. They transport us from world of limitations that we regularly experience and remind us of our potential. Whenever we experience a masterpiece it reminds us that shackles we feel in our daily lives are optional. The funny thing about greatness is that it will always invite you along for journey. Masterpieces teach us to recognize joy of creation for sake of creation. They spur us on to pursue excellence as our birthright. All masterpieces are embodiments of meaning that would have never occurred had they been concerned with opinions of critics. If you feel something is holding you back look in mirror and you will discover your boogie man. All great masterpieces are reminders of what life can be like when we learn to get out of our own way. Create for sake of creating. Respond to joy of moment and dance for sake of dancing. Play for sake of playing. Laugh for sake of laughing. Everything else is a chorus of excuses and limitations.

Once asked to describe key to creativity, Thomas Alva Edison said said, “Never quit working on your subject until you get what you’re after.” Well, aren’t we ourselves a work in progress? If you plan on creating a masterpiece of your life its time to take stage, do dance in spite of critics. That is masterpiece lesson of Boogie-Woogie. Create!

Sometimes it takes death to teach us about life. Occasionally we must go through misery to understand joy. And sometimes it takes slang born in Great Depression to understand that we will always get whatever we put out attention on. You can Boogie Woogie or you can waltz with Boogie Man. The choice is always yours!

The happiest you will ever be in life is when you take responsibility for your creations and create! It is what it is. Take stage, do dance and know that only thing that can squash music is YOU! The Boogie Man has no power over those who create for simple joy they receive from act of creation. That’s bees knees, eels hips and elephants eyebrows. Got it? Therein lies Secret of All Great Masterpieces daddy-o! Your life is your Music. Do dance!

“Stix you start bangin those tubs! Chops you lay down line…it’s time to get this party happening! One…Two…Three…Four!”

Be Careful What You Agree With!

One of benefits of being an employee is not having to take TOTAL responsibility for your life. Its made me realize that rarely have I observed successful individuals complain about their circumstances. It is a major distinction between people who exhibit entrepreneurial flair and those who will always remain employees. W.I.T. The biggest issue that I have found with success is actually defining “the word” SUCCESS on my own terms. Over years I have developed a love affair with dictionaries. You might remember those books our ancestors used in pre-search engine days. Anyway, I use dictionaries regularly to see how they define a word. What has become fascinating about this is that dictionaries often disagree with one another….kind of like search engines do today.

If you look up word success in most dictionaries it will normally come up with some variations of following ideas:

a)accomplishment, achievement, attainment; triumph, victory

And my experience has been that these synonyms promote following viewpoints:

When you get what you want then you can be happy.

Life begins when you get X.

What you don’t have is better that what you do have.

More is better.

I find these perspectives woefully inadequate for truly defining elements of a successful life. Until you decide what success means to you, inadvertently you will fall for one of these perspectives. The key is defining SUCCESS based upon what is ultimately significant to your life, on your own terms, by your own design.

For me, W.I.T. is a wonderful definition of SUCCESS. Football coach and legend Vince Lombardi said, “The pride of success is hard work, dedication to job at hand, and determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied best of ourselves to task at hand.” If anybody understood W.I.T, it was Vince Lombardi.

I, also however am reminded of French prisoner Papillon who was unjustly condemned to life imprisonment on Devils Island. He was disturbed by a recurring nightmare. His dream was that he stood before a harsh tribunal. “You are charged,” they would shout, “with a wasted life. How do you plead?” “Guilty.” He would mutter. “I plead guilty.” Papillon, prisoner knew that to waste his life under control of others was WASTE. He also consistently pursued his freedom. W.I.T.

Life is essentially composed of energy, time and space. To ultimately live a successful life would mean that we intensely understand these basic elements and invest them wisely without waste in pursuit of our goal.. The rich have money. The successful individual has a rich entrepreneurial life and lives it intensely.

Success is a passionate love affair with life. W.I.T. On your own terms, by your own design.

So be it!