Self-Improvement | Jeannie Robertson | The Self Improvement Blog

Videos for the Week of February 21, 2010

The First Video is just for laughs.

Jeanne Robertson is a professional speaker who specializes in hilarious humor based on her life experiences. Speaking to thousands of people annually, she utilizes her positively funny style to illustrate that a sense of humor is much more than a laughing matter. It is a strategy for success.

Other speakers might be as witty as Jeanne. Some might even be as tall. (Barefooted withher hair “mashed” down, she’s 6’2″ in her size 11B stocking feet.) But nowhere will you find a speaker so adept at turning personal experiences into funny material that does more than elicit laughter. This Miss Congeniality winner in the Miss America Pageant, “Yearrrrrrrrrrrs ago,” quoting Jeanne, uses her down-home Southern drawl to leave her audiences laughing
. . . and thinking about her message.

Jeanne’s success as a humorous speaker has not gone unnoticed by her peers. She has been awarded every top honor in her profession. They like her back home too. The NC Press Association named Jeanne 2001 North Carolinian of the Year.

You may have seen this Hall of Fame speaker being interviewed by CBS correspondent Morley Safer on “60 Minutes” . . . or watched one of the six humor DVDs she has produced in the last eleven years . . . or heard her daily on Sirius/XM Radio’s Family Comedy Channels . . . or seen a YouTube clip that had over two million hits in two months. But only if
you’ve seen Jeanne in person at one of the thousands of speeches she has given over the past 45 years can you really appreciate why she stands at the top of her profession.

Jeanne Robertson is funny. Oh my, yes. She also knows that her job is far more than being funny. Her message is that a sense of humor is an attitude, an approach toward working with people. She believes that this humor attitude can be developed and improved, and she outlines how to do so while captivating audiences with funny, original stories.

If you are reading this after the week of February 21, click the following link to view the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1_W0LCHwK4&feature=email

Transcript
A little over a week before filming this episode, I was on my way into NYC, and the tone on my blackberry went off to let me know that I had an email.
Now, I don’t know about you, but up until 1992, I had never touched a computer and I swore I wouldn’t. Today I have two laptops, two desktops, and I walk around with a blackberry strapped to my side.
I bought into the whole idea that technology was going to make life easier and that it was going to help me stay connected. Actually, what I have personally found is that it has just given me more time, to be busier.
I don’t know if it’s the same for you, maybe it’s just me. But, I’ve actually become less connected with the people and the things that are most important to me because of technology allowing me to do more “things”. I really have tried making time to stay connected. At least twice a year, I will do a mass email to pretty much everyone in my address book. Just an email reaching out to say, “Hey, I haven’t seen or heard from you in a while. I wanted to reconnect and see if we can commit to staying in touch more.” Sometimes on a long drive, I’ll go through my cell phone book making time to call people to try and connect; sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. But I was always able to say “I tried”.
I do realize that as we go through this journey in life, that people will enter our lives for a reason, a season or a lifetime. Many of you may have become aware of an email that goes around describing how the people who come into our lives don’t always stay as long as we like. Some are around for only a reason; helping us learn something about ourselves, or we are helping them learn something about themselves.
Some people enter our lives for a season; where we help each other grow and transition. Then a small number actually stay with us for a lifetime. I do actually understand that some of those people in my address book are no longer on that part of the journey with me. We have connected for a specific experience, and that time has passed.
The reason that we’re shooting this episode today is the email that I got that morning on my way to work was about the passing of a very dear friend. Somebody who, for whatever reasons, fell off that list of things that were important enough to make sure I was staying connected with.
The person was Nancy McKowen. She was very important person, in a very unique circle of friends that I connected with between 1998 and around 2000. This group of friends did some amazing things. We all supported each other in a spectacular growth period. We supported each other, and we reached out to support our communities. I can say that everyone who was in that circle made quantum leaps in our own personal and spiritual development because of the support that we gave each other and the experiences we shared.
Then about five years ago I ended up moving from New Jersey where this group was located back to Pennsylvania and fell out of contact with a lot of people. I mean, when I lived in NJ I would see these people weekly. We were always making time to do something together, meetings, book discussions, charitable causes and just hanging out. After I moved back to PA these gatherings became less frequent. I think the last contact I had with Nancy was probably five years ago. Don’t get me wrong, I understand these things happen.
It was just that in the email they told me that she had been struggling with cancer for quite some time. As I went through the day I struggled with a lot of different emotions, and I couldn’t figure out why. I’m pretty grounded in my Spiritual beliefs, and when someone passes, even a close relative or friend, I’m not usually shaken up. Then I had a realization of what was bothering me so much. It was that I was not making time and had dropped the ball on what’s truly important to me.
I’ve had some great accomplishments in my life. I’ve succeeded in many areas and overcome a lot of things. And we’ve all heard the saying that when a person gets to the last moment of their lives it’s not about the successes they had or the money they earned. It’s about the relationships that they nurtured. It’s about the moments they shared with loved ones. It’s about the times they spent actually “living” life. The email about Nancy’s passing drove that home for me.
So, what did I learn from that experience?
Well, for me I’ve decided that I’m raising my standards of making time for what is important and how I’m going to stay in contact or at least let the people in my life who are important to me, know that they are. I’m making time to make sure that those emails individually go out, rather than a mass email, weekly. I’m going to make phone calls weekly. I’m stepping up my commitment because these people are what’s important in my life, and I want to let them know. Even if I don’t hear back from them; them reaching back to me… that’s not the point. This is not about them reciprocating. It is about me reaching out to let other people know that they’re important.
In the past, whenever I’ve sent those emails or made those phone calls, I had this belief system that said if I don’t hear back, it was okay. I’d say to myself, “I know they care, and they know I care, we’re just… busy.”
That excuse isn’t good enough anymore for me. I need to make sure that I let the people know that they are important. I’m making sure that I make the time, and what I would like to ask you to do for yourself and those that you care about, is to have you ask yourself, “What can I do today, to let the people who are important to me know that they are?” Not to just assume they know, but really let them know that you care. What is something you can do to connect with them?
I hope you don’t have to have the same experience I have had with the loss of a very dear friend to make you realize the need for making time for what is important.
Thanks and we look forward to seeing you again soon.
Dedicated to Nancy Marie McKowen
8-8-1960 to 5-9-2009
Thank you for bringing love and light to this world.
Love and Respect
Willard

Videos for the Week of February 21, 2010

Brain Magic

News and Other New Stuff

Listen to Yvonne Perry’s interview with Gaetano Vivo today at 2:55 CDT

Someone You Should Know

Book Reviews

A Review: Lipstick and The Leash: A Woman’s Guide to Getting What You Want from Your Dog & Your Life.

The Oneness Gospel: Birthing the Christ Consciousness and Divine Human in You. A Review

Irene’s Articles

Cleaning out the clutter

Let’s put “Self” Back in Self Improvement