7 Ways to Learn to Fly like Robin Williams
We all want to be happy! But how many us of have really discovered the secrets and keys of mastering happiness?
Ask Yourself:
Am I doing all that I can do to make the choice to be happy in my life? What else can I do to be happier? Am I living a life that fulfills me and excites me?
In celebrating the life of the late Robin Williams, I watched the movie “Hook” and gained some insights on how we can be happier.
Our lives are not meant to be mediocre. Our lives are meant to be awesome! We were meant to fly and soar in all of the adventures that we undertake.
Let’s look at the 7 things we can do right now so that we can lead happier, more fulfilling lives and learn to fly like Robin Williams.
1. Learn to Crow (Sing or laugh)
“You can fly, you can fight and you can…. (Peter begins to crow)”. In our lives if we crow (sing) it will help us be happy!
“I don’t sing because I’m happy, I’m happy because I sing.” – William James
Singing makes us feel good. Even if people are poor singers, they still feel great after they sing. In addition to singing, you can laugh. Laughter truly is the best medicine. There have been countless studies on the value of laughing. Even if you just wake up in the morning and start laughing for no reason it will make a difference. You can laugh in a high pitch, low pitch or other bizarre ways. It also spreads like wildfire. If you begin laughing for no apparent reason and someone sees it, they will probably look at you funny at first and then start laughing themselves!
Suggestion # 1: When you wake up, just start singing your favorite song at the top of your lungs or laughing hysterically. You will be surprised how this will lighten you up and smile. It’s pretty hard to sing a happy song or laugh and still remain sad!
2. Never Grow Up
We all know Peter Pan wants to be a little boy forever and never grow up. In the movie we see him enjoying life and just being a kid. He has food fights with the lost boys, plays ball with them and just has the time of his life.
“You don’t stop laughing when you grow old; you grow old when you stop laughing.” — George Bernard Shaw
Obviously we know that we are all going to physically grow up. But no one says we have to lose our sense of wonder and curiosity about the world. So often we feel that, because we get older, we need to be serious all the time. Just because you age does not mean that you have to get old. There are times to be serious, but there are other times just to live and have fun. This life was meant to be enjoyed. Always be a kid at heart and have a sense of wonder and curiosity.
Suggestion # 2: Today, go and do something that you loved to do as a child. Whether it is watching one of the cartoons you watched as a child with your favorite bowl of cereal, or flying a kite. Reclaim your childhood today!
3. Think happy thoughts
In order for Peter Pan to fly, he must think happy thoughts. It takes him a while to find his happy thought but, once he does, he begins to fly without even realizing it. In our lives we need to think happy thoughts.
Zig Ziglar says, “Positive thinking will let you do everything better than negative thinking will.” Who does it hurt when you are not positive? It hurts you!
Thinking positive and feeding your faith instead of your doubt will do much more for you than negative thinking will.
Be positive. Have confidence and have faith that life is going to work out. Trials happen to everybody but hold on to your happy thoughts and you will fly through those storms.
“When you walk through a storm hold your head up high
And don’t be afraid of the dark
At the end of the storm, there’s a golden sky
And the sweet, silver song of a lark!” – Carousel
Keep your head up and believe in yourself. You will get through whatever challenge you are facing much quicker if you remain optimistic.
Your thoughts and your questions shape your life. Everyone goes through trials but those who hold their head high with confidence and happy thoughts come out much stronger than those who are negative.
Suggestion # 3: Be Positive … Write down 10 positive statements about yourself and read them daily with confidence.
4. Surround Yourself with People Who Believe in You
Just as Peter forgot that he had been Peter Pan, we, too forget our potential and how awesome and great we are. At the end of the movie, Hook has Peter Pan on the ropes (or the grindstone) and we think it could be the end for Peter Pan. All of a sudden, all of the lost boys begin saying, “I believe in you!”
Then his daughter Maggie says she believes in him. Then Tinkerbelle chimes in with, “I believe in you,” and then lastly his son Jack says, “I believe in you,” and, at that moment, Peter Pan gains this ultra-human strength and throws Hook off of him!
We must surround ourselves with people who believe in us, especially in the times of trial and challenge that come to all of us. It will give us an ultra-human strength when someone believes in us and will help us learn to fly.
“Surround yourself with only people who are going to lift you higher.” – Oprah Winfrey
Surround yourself with those who are going to help you reach your goals. Limit your time with those who don’t believe in you and are not going to help you achieve your goals or cut them out of your life all together.
It is literally physically draining and exhausting to spend time with people in our life who are negative and sap our energy. You will be much happier if you surround yourself with those people that believe in you will help get you where you need to be.
Suggestion # 4: Today, analyze your friends and those that surround you and ask yourself, “Does this person support me in my goals and dreams?” Then begin to spend less time with those that do not believe in you or support you. You will see a noticeable difference in the amount of energy you physically have.
5 . Remember Who You Are
Remember who you are and believe in yourself. Just as Peter Banning forgot he was Peter Pan, there are times in all of our lives that we forget how amazing and great we are. We must do some personal reflecting and remind ourselves of the potential that we possess. When Peter Pan looks at his reflection in the water and sees the younger version of him, he begins reminding himself gradually of who he is. Take a look at your reflection in the mirror and it will remind you who you are.
One of my favorite quotes that reminds us who we are is by Marianne Williamson:
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
Remember that you were born for great things and are capable of anything that you decide you want to achieve. As we look back and remember the achievements of our past, it can often times give us the confidence to go forward in the future.
Suggestion # 5: Take a few minutes and think back on your life and the great things that you have accomplished.
6. Life is A Game
At the end of the movie, when Peter Pan is about to fly away, one of the lost boys approaches him and says, “that was a great game Peter!”
The lost boy is referring to everything that happened as a game … playing ball, having food fights, having life threatening fights with pirates … they were all a game? Nothing is usually as ever bad as we make it out to be. We all are going to face challenges. What if we looked at it as a giant game?
“Now the game. Your game. The one that only you was meant to play. The one that was given to you when you came into this world. You ready? Take your stance. Don’t hold nothing back. Give it everything.
– The Legend of Bagger Vance
This is your time, your game and your life. Do not hold anything back! You only get one life on earth and you get to decide however it is that you want to use it. As a friend of mine told me, “Run towards the gunfire… run towards the fight!”
That sales meeting that you have for today might be as daunting as fighting Captain Hook. Learning to be a new parent could feel like having to learn to fly!
We just need to realize that this is all part of the game. Some people say that they would like a life that is void of all challenges. However, the only people that have no challenges are 6 feet underground, in cemeteries.
Challenges are part of this game that we call life, and if we have a plan and stay positive we are going to enjoy this game called life.
Suggestion #6: What is the biggest challenge that you are facing in your life right now? How can you look at this challenge as a game and run straight at it? Always remember, just like Peter Pan we all go through detours and unfortunate events in our lives and we forget at times our true potential that we have and we forgot what it is that we really want. Decide now what it is that you want out of life and go get it!
7. Life is the Greatest Adventure
When Peter returns from Neverland, Granny Wendy says, “Your adventures are over Peter.” To this peter responds, “To live is the greatest adventure!”
Life is the greatest adventure. Your life is truly a gift. We waited a long time for this adventure called life and looked forward to it. Our life can be everything that we want it to be. We must look at it that way.
There was a time when everything you have right now was nothing but a wish. There was a time when you were pleading for your wife just to take a chance on you and go on one single date and now you don’t even want to spend time with her. What if you treated her as if she was the greatest gift of your life?
There was a time when you were trying so hard to have children. Now you shrug them off so that you can spend more time on Facebook? Aren’t they the life and joy of your life anymore?
Why is it that once we have something in our possession we value it less? Everybody wants what they can’t have but, once they have it, they often times become ungrateful for it. Begin to want what you have. Be grateful for the good things and you will have more of them. Also, be grateful for the bad things because they teach us, and we learn many valuable lessons. We learn much more from our failures than our successes. Bad things and failures also make us appreciate appreciate the good things that much more. If you don’t failure, does success mean anything?
What difference would it make in your life if you woke up in the morning and looked at your life as a giant adventure? What would it be like to be grateful for all of the things that you have? What if you woke up with excitement and passion like a little kid waking up on your Christmas? Don’t you think you would treat your days differently?
Remain in the present. Get excited about your life and all of the possibilities that you are right in front of you. Live Your Life and make big things happen!
Suggestion #7: Live your life with excitement and purpose! Decide right now to live your life like an adventure. When you wake up in the morning, ask yourself a simple question such as … What am I excited about today?
I know most of these suggestions are very simple. However, often times it is the simplest of ideas that can change your life. Apply these simple things to your life and you too can soar like Robin Williams in your life, business and relationships! Bangarang!