beautiful strippers and too many baby chickens…
Negativity seems to be consuming the world, esp. America … so I wish to re-discuss themes in this blog, much of it taken from a blog I posted 6 months ago …
Even if you remember my stories in this post, I challenge you to read this again and reflect… and ensure you are not being brought down or held back by negativity; whether negative people or a negative environment – get negativity out of your life.
“You can not surround yourself with blindness and expect to see…”
TD Jakes
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These days, I can’t help but think of the story of a baby eagle who fell from his nest high up on a cliff, and landed on the ground next to a bunch of baby chickens.
Upon hitting the ground, the baby eagle struggled to stand and cried for help.
The mamma chicken saw what happened and ran over and immediately, took the baby eagle under her wing.
For the next many years, the baby eagle grew up with a bunch of baby chickens and learned how to be a chicken.
One day, he was at school and saw an eagle soaring high in the sky …
As they all looked up and watched the beauty and power flying above, he said to everyone: ‘one day I will soar like an eagle.’
But they all laughed at him and said:
‘it’s not possible because chickens can’t fly …’
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When I lived in Tokyo, one of the first friends I met was a banker.
One night this friend invited me out for dinner and surprised me with my first and only visit to a strip club.
My new friend explained he had a big expense account as a trader and loved strippers so he used the strip club to entertain his clients.
I’m not gonna lie… I will never forget that evening.
I was just a naive, sweet 24 year old boy who dreamed of becoming a great man.
As I chatted very uncomfortably with two beautiful naked women, “Candy” and “Jezabel”, I understood very well that spending my time in such an environment would only distract me from where I wanted to go.
To this day, I can still remember that feeling of shame I felt when I walked out of the club onto the crowded busy street in Tokyo…
I tried many times to get my buddy to stop wasting his time and money at strip clubs, but he kept telling me how he loved strippers, and they loved him.
We slowly stopped speaking and I never saw him again.
Years later, he was one of the first people to send me a congratulations message after I swam the English Channel.
I didn’t know, but he had been following my blog so knew about my swim.
Over the couple emails we exchanged, he told me he just got divorced from his 2nd wife, but joked that he still loved the strippers and they still loved him….
We didn’t keep in touch, however, the following year, he called the office in Dubai to congratulate me after I completed my “7 ironman in 7 days” challenge.
During our call he told me that everyone in his company knew about me; how he often sent my blog to people on his team.
A couple months later, a woman from his office called to tell me that my ol’ buddy, a father of 3 who I know was worth hundreds of millions of dollars — only 48 years old… had a heart attack and died.
I’m not saying it was his love of strippers that killed him.
Just wondering out loud how things might have been had my buddy listened to me back in Tokyo…
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Too many people are brought down, distracted, even held back just because they waste their time in the wrong environment surrounded by the wrong people.
NOW is the time to reflect on everything and everyone in our lives.
Is your environment and the people you spend the most time with lifting you up and making you a better man or woman?
or
Have you become just another eagle, surrounded by too many chickens?
Benjamin
We are all eagles
James Curry
Scott, this struck a chord with me. I had to literally distance myself from an industry and almost everyone I knew in it because of its proclivity towards your example of “Client Relationship Management”. Even to be complicit here is to have some serious pollution in your conscience. After a while, one by one, my “friends” in that realm disappeared from my life. And that was a good thing. I found it took years for me to relearn what real client relationships are about and what defines real success. Your message is raw, but necessary for anyone (especially a 20’s something young man in the Washington DC Lobbying circuit) to see through the smoke that there are so many better paths in life. I wish I had learned this 20 years ago!
Michael
Very poignant. It’s a lesson that many don’t learn and then it’s to late. I am grateful to be on the road of my own recovery which included a complete crisis/destruction of conscience. I thank God that it did not result in a heart attack from the stress of leading that kind of life. Some people will convince themselves that they would rather die happy. They are not being honest… they would rather die free. Let’s untether ourselves from abhorrent behavior and dangerous liaisons for the sake of what?… great post Scott. Soar brother!
Richard MA
Third times I read this blog.Wrong Environment can not make right person!I don’t wanna be the chicken in current situation. Die with the honor.
Abdulaziz
Welcome believe me I am Abdulaziz from The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and I am very sad that I do not know english. i’m sorry
kdizzle
hey scott, hope you are well. havent heard from you for a while on here. all the best
csr
Kdizzle – thanks for your thoughts.
I think the world is too full of opinions with people trying to sell themselves and an over abundance of self promotion.
I reflect back over this blog, and the many years I kept it … and I find too much of what I said to be arrogant and opinionated. This/that is not the man I aspire to be.
At the end of the day, who cares what I have to say or think.
I will post 1 or 2 more blogs, ideally by the end of February beginning of March (follow up and conclusion to my choose not to be a victim – embrace the struggle and all that is gained from choosing not to be a victim) and then I will probably stop my blog completely.
Your comment is appreciated – if there are two things I hope you and the other readers take from reading my blog:
1.) get into water fasting. water fasting is magical. I recommend water fasting and prayer to everyone (even to my none believer friends and readers) – and I have witnessed 25-30 day water fasting cure inoperable stage 3/4 cancer and also cure lupus … not to mention all the incredible, super natural magical things I have personally experienced while fasting. Esp. if one needs a break through in their life – or is lost in life and does not know where they are going — get into water fasting.
2.) do not sit around waiting for your life to happen — regardless of how much money you have or do not have, make your life happen.
I think most people want to get to the top and “achieve”, but many times on our climb, going after achievement, we will fall down, and even there will be times we get pushed down.
I wonder if too many people feel sorry for themselves, and waste too much time thinking on “why” they fell down … or “why” they didnt achieve their goal or “why” something negative happened to them …
But at the end of the day, feeling sorry for ourselves and thinking how unfair something is, is a waste of time.
No matter what or why we experience something negative … We must just get back up grow, learn and start climbing again.