This is the part where Jeff talks about himself in the third person. This is the second sentence in which Jeff again mentions his name. This is the third sentence, in which his name is not mentioned, but he still refers to himself in the third person. If you ever wanted to write a sentence fragment.
I’ve been a human on planet Earth for a little over 27 years and I’ve realized something – everyone has an opinion on what someone else should do. Advice is helpful, guidance by those I know can be appreciated, but for the purpose of this writing I want to focus more on the commands of individuals saying ‘you should run your business this way’ or ‘you should produce a movie this way’ rather than the other types of commands like ‘you should look both ways before crossing the road’ or ‘you shouldn’t touch that, it’s hot’.
I recently saw the movie Disney’s Tomorrowland – I’ve seen the movie three times, three days in a row, so I guess I liked it. Many of the critics disagreed with me and didn’t enjoy it. There are two quotes that stood out to me when viewing it.
Quote One: “Can we fix it?”
The first scenerio in the movie involves a girl sitting through classroom lectures about the destruction of the world, global warming, wars, and how things are getting worse. She raises her hand and asks, “Can we fix it?” People love focusing on problems. It’s much easier to focus on what’s wrong than coming up with a solution.
I can prove it to you.
Go on Facebook right now and see the complaints people have. Now, count how many people offer solutions – as in, solutions in which action is required on their part. I’ve noticed a trend, everyone loves complaining about issues outside of our control – or we position the issue so it looks like we effectively can’t do anything.
Quote Two: “I guess I got tired waiting…”
The second scenerio in the movie involves a boy showing an adult the jet pack he built. When asked “Why?” he said, “I guess I got tired of waiting for someone else to make it.”
Facebook offers a lot of insight to humans – at least, the humans with Internet connection. People are very angry about salaries, wages, casting of movies. I get emails daily from the Republican and Democratic parties telling me to donate money to them so they can tell someone else how to do something. I’m not mad or angry about what people post or demand of others, I just find it odd. The people posting or emailing me seem to be angry, but I’m not seeing much action on their part.
Mr. Rogers
Actual change takes a lot of energy. I enjoyed watching an interview with Fred Rogers, who worked in television and didn’t see anything suitable for children. He sought to create a children’s television program, but since no one else was interested, he was the person on the screen. He shared he didn’t want to be in front of the camera, but it’s what was needed.
That stood out to me. He didn’t demand another person start a children’s television show, he went out and started one – and if you looked at the first few episodes, it wasn’t much. It doesn’t take a fancy job or a lot of money, but it does take time and dedication.
Hollywood: Stories & Casting Roles
I’ve seen more and more posts about people upset and surprised at Hollywood for how they cast and portray certain roles.
I find this odd for a number of reasons, but I’ll just list two:
1. If Hollywood changed how they operated ever since they started, THEN I would be surprised. From what I’ve seen, the stories and posts are basically saying, “I can’t believe Hollywood is doing exactly what I expected them to do! They should change!”
2. I haven’t come across any new ideas – people are just really mad. Also, they expect someone else to make a vision of the movie they have in their head.
It’s obvious there are some passionate people who want to see a different kind of movie than what Hollywood has been creating. I think that’s great, but rather than being angry or upset, use that energy, gather all your friends, and create the story that Hollywood obviously doesn’t know how to create. Show them how it’s done!
Business and Beyond
The same scenerio can be used for most issues people are angry about. Want workers to make $15/hour? Start the business. Think a restaurant should serve more healthy items? Start the restaurant. Think colleges are expensive? Start a college.
“But JEFF, that’s a lot of work!” Yep. That’s the thing with dreams, it’s never easy. Here’s a list of dreamers.
– Fred Rogers created Mister Rogers Neighborhood, the program he thought would be ideal for children while honoring their intelligence.
– Elon Musk created an electric car – and now he’s trying to build spaceships.
– Walt Disney wanted a place for parents and their children to enjoy time together – so he created Disneyland. And then he bought a swamp with a crazy idea to potentially build a whole other community to test out new ideas.
The people who make an impact in the world are the ones doing it – that’s how much they believe in their idea.
Think about this – let’s say Fred Rogers was mad that there was no children’s programming, so he went to the government and demanded more educational children’s programming. The government agrees and demands people produce more children’s educational programming. Mr. Rogers flips on the TV, and then is upset that the children’s programming isn’t how he thinks it should be. He demands the government tell the production company exactly what needs to go into a program. The government agrees. The government tells the production company what elements need to be in their programming. The production company obliges. Mr. Rogers turns on the TV, still not happy because the people producing the content, although they are adhering to the guidelines, it’s evident on-screen that they aren’t passionate about their mandates.
I used that example because I’ve watched the mandated Children’s programming on a Saturday morning – well, let’s just say it’s changed since I was a kid.
The Challenge
You can do whatever you want. I’ve personally challenged myself to try and help the dreamers of the world, or offer solutions rather than just complaining.
Rather than just complaining about human trafficking, there are people out there who are educating people on how to avoid human trafficking. There are people out there rescuing individuals from human trafficking. There are people donating resources to help these people out.
Rather than yelling at homeless people to ‘get a job’, there are people out there creating businesses to help provide income to those who need it. There are people helping other humans overcome addictions.
Rather than being angry and surprised by news articles about people exiting the church, they’re going out and telling people who Jesus is. (Also, these people are not surprised people reject Jesus because the Bible is full of cases where people choose not to follow Jesus when Jesus is right in front of them.)
There are business owners paying for maternity and paternity leave.
Rather than being angry at the way TV shows and movies are created, there are individuals writing and casting their own movies.
Final Note
This is the place where I could put a lot of disclaimers and exceptions – but I’m not going to for a number of reasons. You can even completely disagree with everything I’ve said, to which I say, “Cool. Hope we can still be friends.”
Also, if you hated this piece of writing, you can:
1. Tell your friends how much you hated it on Facebook
2. Write a better piece of writing, the way it should have been written
3. Do nothing regarding this piece of writing, because you just realized your time is pretty valuable.
4. ________ (because you’re a dreamer and make up your own answer)