Kay:
Hey hey everyone! And, welcome to Episode 112! Today is June 9th and we’ve got a great quote for you from the legendary woman, Ms Lucille Ball!
Shi:
She says, “One of the things I learned the hard way was that it doesn’t pay to get discouraged. Keeping busy and making optimism a way of life can restore your faith in yourself.”
Kay:
Now, I feel like Lucille was one of those first characters on TV who was just so undeniably plucky that you rooted for her, even when she was maybe a little winy…
Shi:
*(Imitates Lucille)* *RICKYYY!!!*
Shi:
Even when she was doing things that made you shake your head, you still were rooting for her – which goes to say a lot about her talent. And, what an incredibly talented woman, trailblazer, and pioneer. It’s easy, in this day and age, to look at someone like her and be like, “Oh, that’s cool.” But, to be a woman, and be one of the first studio owners of a major production studio, as well as one of the first top billing comedic actresses, took a lot of guts and tenacity. And, I’m sure that she learned the hard way that it doesn’t pay to get discouraged.
Kay:
Oh man, doesn’t it! Because, what happens when we get discouraged is we end up getting hopeless and many of us stop taking action. So, from a literal perspective, it actually WON’T pay you to get discouraged and do nothing…
Shi:
Right! From that literal perspective, and from this metaphorical perspective! I think it’s really open and vulnerable and honest of her to say, “One of the things I learned the hard way is that it doesn’t pay to get discouraged.” I mean, she spent a lot of time being discouraged and I think many of us can relate to this right now. It’s an easy emotion to default to, it’s an easy emotion to feel in the face of so much adversity, and so many things are primers for being discouraged…
Kay:
But, nevertheless, she had to learn the hard way that that doesn’t pay for anything in your life. And then, she actually gives us advice on how we can do some things in the opposite direction. Because, in the second half of this quote, she says that, “Keeping busy and making optimism a way of life can restore your faith in yourself.” And, when we’re talking about keeping busy, we’re talking about really KEEPING busy, which is not the same as looking busy. So, being productive and being positive is really what she’s coming down to. And, if that’s a way of life for you, you can literally restore the faith that you have in yourself!
Shi:
Oooh I love that! You know, the 2020 translation of this is productive and positive. And, productive meaning that you are taking that action because it will put you in motion. And, maybe you take an action and you misstep, or maybe you take an action and you fall...and that can be discouraging in and of itself. But, most likely, what you’ll learn from that is how not to make that same mistake again, and allow yourself a clearer picture of where it is that you want to be headed, in the direction that’s right for you. So, I think when we couple productivity and positivity together, then we get that magical ending where she says it will “restore faith in yourself.”
Kay:
Well, if we look at what ‘discouraged’ means – it means without courage. AKA: your courage is gone. And so, what is the opposite of someone who lacks courage? Because, if I don’t have courage, it means I don’t have faith. And so, I’m not brave enough to do it. Because, when a person has no faith in the outcome, of course they’re not courageous enough to take the action. And so, Lucille is saying that, if you can make positive productivity a way of life, it can literally help pull you out of that discouragement, and give you the courage that you need to move forward, and have faith in the outcome.
Shi:
As Tony Robbins says, “The secret to happiness is progress, my friends.” And, it seems corny and almost TOO simple, but it truly is that magic sauce of staying encouraged and staying in courage, and moving towards your goal. And that is making progress! So, keeping busy and staying optimistic helps you make progress, which therefore fills you with courage and moves you closer to what you want. And, when you do that, you believe in yourself, and you have conviction in yourself, and as above so below. So, you begin to feel more encouraged about what’s happening on the outside, when you start to see results and you see that progress happening within. And so, faith in yourself translates to faith in your outer circumstances as well. And that’s why we just love this quote. And, of course, we love Lucille ball as well! If you’ve never seen the movie, “The Long, Long Trailer”, it is a family favorite of ours, and probably Lucille and Ricky at their finest. And, we would certainly recommend it!
Kay:
Well, just a reminder: She tells us that, “One of the things I learned the hard way was that it doesn’t pay to get discouraged. Keeping busy and making optimism a way of life can restore your faith in yourself.”
Shi:
All right! So let’s get onto our Tuesday quest for today…Your quest is to: Do something to keep you busy (that’s not wasting time)! We’re not talking about scrolling on Instagram for an hour. But, to do something that keeps you truly busy, and makes progress towards your goal – so that you can restore faith in yourself! Don’t just stay busy…Be productive!
Kay & Shi:
Are you ready? Let’s quest!
