I am writing this blog in memory of my Father, who passed away two years ago and would have celebrated his 75th birthday today . My Dad was a huge fan of the comedian Steve Harvey . He enjoyed watching his daytime talk shows very much and really appreciated Harvey's rags-to-riches story. I admit that I did not know that much about Steve Harvey other than the fact that he seems to have more shows on television than anyone else I can think of... the Steve Harvey Show, the Steve Harvey Morning Show, Family Feud, Little Big Shots, Little Big Shots: Forever Young, Steve Harvey's Funderdome and the Miss Universe Pageant . He is also a successful author, an Emmy and NAACP Image Award winner, and the father of 7 children.Because of my Dad, I decided to read up on Steve Harvey and I was struck by his story.
Apparently, when he was a child, Steve Harvey had a very pronounced stutter. When he was asked by his sixth grade teacher what he wanted to be when he grew up, he said he wanted to be on television. His teacher thought his dream was absurd and accused him of not taking the assignment seriously. She embarrassed him in front of the class and told him that he would definitely never ever be on television. She even called Steve's parents to report that their son was being a 'smart-aleck' in class. He went home fully expecting to be punished by his parents. It was at this point that Steve Harvey's story (and life) took an inspiring turn.His father told him that there was absolutely nothing wrong with his dream. He told him: "Take your paper and put it in your drawer. Every morning when you get up, read your paper. And every night before you go to bed, read your paper. That’s your paper and your story.” Steve Harvey has said that what his Dad told him was the inspiration for his later success in life. He said "if you write it down and envision it, anything you can see in your mind, you can hold in your hand.”
Have you ever been told that you could not do something? Were you lucky enough to have someone in your life like Steve Harvey's father to inspire and encourage you? It is easy to internalize the negativity that others place on us. We start to believe those words and then they become a self fulfilling prophecy.
Mary Kay Ash, the famous founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics, used to instruct her sales associates to look in the mirror each day and tell themselves that they are beautiful. She said that if they make this a regular practice, they would eventually believe it. Mary Kay's own mother often told her as a child that she could be the best and do anything she wanted in her life . Mary Kay passed this motivation and inspiration onto others. She was famous for sending every one of her consultants annual birthday cards filled with motivating words and one year she sent them all talking teddy bears that said "You can do it! You can go to the top!" Those are words we should each hear every day! It is no wonder that her company became a multi-billion dollar business. Despite the fact that all of the other major cosmetics companies were owned by men and that many people told her she would not and could not be successful in a "man's world", Mary Kay kept herself encouraged by writing down six personal goals for herself every night before bed and she started each day by listening to motivational tapes while putting on her makeup. Now that is just the kind of multi-tasking that we should each learn to embrace!
I wanted to come up with just the right words to encourage and inspire you! I want you to look into the mirror each day and tell yourself that you are beautiful, intelligent, powerful and unstoppable. I want to be your Mary Kay or your Mr. Harvey and tell you to live out your story and realize your dreams. As I was trying to come up with the perfect words, I came across the latest "power anthem" from Disney, aptly entitled "Live Your Story." I love this amazing song and the inspiring video that accompanies it. Just to let you know, I am responsible for MANY of its over 1.2 million views! I hope it inspires you to live your story...just like Steve Harvey and Mary Kay Ash and many others who refused to be brought down by negative forces.
By the way, in case you think you know how Steve Harvey's story ends, since his success is indisputable, the part you may not know is thatevery Christmas he sent his sixth grade teacher a brand new television. He said that he wanted to make sure that she saw him on tv living out his childhood dream . Steve and his teacher were reunited before she passed away and she told him that he had given her so many televisions that she had to give them all away. He told her that was okay. Steve also told her that she may no longer have the tv's, but all these years later, he still had that piece of paper from her sixth grade class with the words of his life story written in his own handwriting "I will be on television one day!"
So my message to you today is something that I can imagine my own Dad telling my sisters and me...just like the words of the song say..."Dream, see, write and live your story! Dream big and live your story!"