speaking-category03

2 days ago

Last night, I had the honor of joining hundreds of student-athletes and their families just outside of Detroit at an event put on by the Get To Foundation.The Get To Foundation honors the life and legacy of Ben Jones who passed away in a car accident in August 2020 at the age of 30. Ben was a loving son, a caring brother, a trusted friend, and a hard-working football player and coach. And while that alone is worthy of celebration, what made Ben so special was the approach he took toward all areas of his life.A specific motto of Ben’s life was “get to….” His unwavering outlook was not that he “had to” do something, but that he had the opportunity and chance to “get to” do something special. It was a feeling of hope, a want to go into battle, and drive to take something on with enthusiasm.My friends, ‘getting’ to do something is so much more liberating than ‘having’ to do something. So often in life, though, that simple notion of “I get to” degrades into “I have to.” I HAVE to go to work. I HAVE to make dinner. I HAVE to pick up the kids from school. I HAVE to forgive him or her.But how would our lives- and the lives of those around us- be positively impacted if we looked at obligations and obstacles not as challenges to overcome but as opportunities to celebrate?I GET to go to work.I GET to make dinner.I GET to pick up the kids from school.I GET to forgive him or her.Today, let’s model Ben Jones’ legacy. Let’s shift our perspective from “Have To” to “Get To.”It will change the thoughts, words and actions we take after.And it’s sure to make our tomorrow even better than today.To learn more about Ben and the Get To Foundation, visit www.gettofoundation.org/. ... See MoreSee Less

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John O'Leary - Live Inspired

3 days ago

Kyle Petty was born into racing royalty. As a third-generation driver and the only son of NASCAR 's winningest driver ever Richard Petty, Kyle spent decades competing at motorsports’ highest divisions earning a reputation as a classy competitor and one of the greatest philanthropists that NASCAR has ever known.For more than 20 years, Kyle has hosted the annual Kyle Petty Charity Ride Across America to raise more than $20 million for Victory Junction. Founded in honor of his son Adam, Victory Junction is a year-round camp that exists to enrich the lives of children, ages six to 16, with chronic and serious medical conditions.Today, Kyle shares an insider's perspective on stock-car racing’s rise in popularity in American culture, how he weathered the untimely death of his son and how he uses his platform to provide life-changing and life-giving experiences for others.Whether you’re a NASCAR fan or not, this episode will remind you that what you do with your time on earth matters.Listen to Kyle Petty on Live Inspired Podcast ep. 486 now:My website: bit.ly/KylePetty486Your favorite podcast app: link.chtbl.com/tOmM9ExS ... See MoreSee Less

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John O'Leary - Live Inspired

6 days ago

Have you ever silenced an idea, worried it would be rejected or thought it wasn’t as good?Have you ever sidelined an opportunity to speak up because you were worried you wouldn’t measure up to others?Have you ever stifled an ‘I love you’ or an ‘I’m sorry’ because it was too late to matter to someone else?Often, we think our own words, ideas and actions won’t make a difference. We listen to the voice of fear whispering we’re just one person, we’re too inexperienced, too insignificant. We clam up when it’s our turn to share. We play small instead of taking a risk. We stay quiet when our words could change everything.And in doing so we fail to recognize that the contribution we see as insignificant is oftentimes life changing. Possibly even world changing. Let me explain.One of my favorite examples of this is that of a journal of personal, everyday thoughts captured by a mischievous, curious and perceptive little girl who never imagined anyone would read it.Only writing for two years of her life, she started tracking her experiences at age 13. She wrote about her parents, her sister, and friends. She wrote about fears, dreams, growing up, the power of good and the pale of evil.In one entry, she writes:“. . .I’m afraid that people who know me as I usually am will discover I have another side, a better and finer side. I’m afraid they’ll mock me, think I’m ridiculous and sentimental and not take me seriously. I’m used to not being taken seriously, but only the “light-hearted” Anne is used to it and can put up with it; the “deeper” Anne is too weak. If I force the good Anne into the spotlight for even fifteen minutes, she shuts up like a clam the moment she’s called upon to speak, and lets Anne number one do the talking. Before I realize it, she’s disappeared.”Anne Frank wrote this diary entry on Aug 1, 1944. She was 15. It was the last entry in her diary before her family’s hiding spot was raided and the Franks were shipped to Nazi concentration camps for the crime of being Jewish.Anne’s dad, Otto Frank, returned to the loft a year later a broken man. He had lost his wife and two daughters to unspeakable evil. He found in that attic, though, the unfiltered musings of his “deeper” Anne. Two years after her death, the journal of a little girl who feared being taken seriously was published. It ultimately sold more than 30 million copies, was translated into more than 70 languages and inspired adaptations on the screen and stage. It has earned a place among the most beloved books of all time.My friends, in a marketplace that often compares our value and worthiness to the most impossible of benchmarks, I hope you’re inspired by what readers of Anne’s diary are still discovering, 80 years later.That one voice matters.That the little things aren’t.That evil, in the end, doesn’t win.And that life — every life — is finite, precious, difficult, unfair and an absolute gift.Savoring your life, tracking your experiences, finding your voice and courageously using it won’t spare you heartache, rejection, or missteps. Instead, it ensures you’ll recognize that contrary to the opinions of some, that your life matters profoundly, the world is better because you are part of it and the best is yet to come.Today is your day. Live Inspired. ... See MoreSee Less

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John O'Leary - Live Inspired

2 weeks ago

“You sit up here. If you need a thing, I’ll be in the back. Just come get me.”And with those words, I buckled my little Grace into her First Class seat, kissed her forehead and made my way to the back of the plane. Grace was joining me for a speaking event and when the airline offered to bump me to the final First Class seat, I thought it would be a blast for Grace to get spoiled up front. I made my way to back of the plane and took a seat. Moments later, a gentleman approached and asked if he could switch seats with me. He had overheard the conversation with my daughter and wanted us to have the chance to fly together. After repeatedly telling him I couldn’t possibly take his ticket, Derrick insisted and said it’s going to get awkward when the flight attendant sees us both fighting for a seat in the back of the plane. Besides, he said, if he was flying with his daughter he’d hope someone might do the same for him.I awkwardly grabbed my bag, accepted the ticket from my new friend, thanked Derrick, shook his hand, made my way upstream against the traffic of passengers and sat down next Grace … who was simply delighted to hear I’d be flying next to her.My friends, generosity is an awesome expression of love. It positively elevates the lives of both those receiving it and the one giving. Just ask a little girl in 3A who wore a smile ear to ear while sipping Shirley Temples next to her Dad last week. Love wins. This is your day. Live Inspired. ... See MoreSee Less

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John O'Leary - Live Inspired

2 weeks ago

After an early morning flight from St. Louis, a layover in Phoenix, and a smooth landing in San Diego, it was time to launch into the day. With a couple coffee meetings scheduled and a speaking event that afternoon, there was little time to waste.Free to move about the cabin once the ding had sounded, I unhooked my seatbelt, slid into my suit coat, grabbed my overhead bag, and raced off the plane.The bustle of the airport was palpable. The floor gently vibrated; the terminal reverberated with laughter, conversations, and PA announcements. With individuals bustling about everywhere, I swam right into the middle of the sea of activity, tugging my bag, hurriedly moving toward my ride, my meetings, my day.In the middle of this packed airport a man in front of me seemed to split the sea. Strutting at a casual pace, he ventured directly down the middle of the terminal scattering those both racing toward him from ahead and passing him from behind. Following him for a bit, he seemed indifferent to the chaos around him. He kept a steady pace, never glancing anywhere but forward.In switching lanes to speed past him, I noticed in his right hand a long white cane rhythmically darting left and right; glancing closer I saw dark glasses covering his eyes. Completing the pass and continuing on my way, I was amazed how what most of us struggle doing with our vision, this gentleman was capably doing without it.Not far ahead I noticed several sets of escalators and stairs. For the first time since deplaning, and maybe even for the first time that entire day, I stopped racing forward. I stopped trying to get my work done, or to my meeting, or to sprint through my day. I slowed my advance, waited for him to get closer, and then greeted the gentleman:“Excuse me. Hello…would you mind if I walked with you?”He responded that he’d actually appreciate it.I stepped closer to him, extended my left arm, he felt for it, took it, and together we continued.As we made our way through the waves of commotion, down an escalator, past security, and toward the baggage claim we made small talk.His name was Jesse. He was coming from Colorado and visiting a friend in California. He worked in IT and was comfortable traveling by himself and navigating new places. After all, he’d been doing it since birth.Having spent significant time with others who have perceived disabilities, I asked if he appreciated the help or resented the request? Jesse shared that for most of his life he turned down any mention of help, any guide, any suggestion that he was less than capable. He then described that refusal to accept aid as stupid pride.But Jesse shared that since he no longer views what he has as a disability, he is more than happy to accept offers of help.He added that accepting help didn’t degrade him; it elevated those who helped him.After successfully arriving at baggage claim and rendezvousing with his companion, I turned to face Jesse, shook my new friend’s hand firmly and told him it was an honor to walk with him.Seeing his face a bit taken aback by my unusual handshake, I added that if he was wondering why my hands felt a little different than the majority of hands he’d shaken in the past, it was because I lost my fingers to amputation after being burned as a kid.But quickly added that if he agreed not to see my hands as a limitation in my life, I would agree not to view his lack of sight as a limitation in his life.He smiled, looked at me and replied, “Well, John, you could have purple skin, orange eyes, and a polka dot tail, and I wouldn’t care. What I CAN see is two guys who aren’t limited by the challenges.”My friends, we all face individual challenges.We endure limiting beliefs, addictions, physical challenges, emotional insecurities, pangs of grief or doubt or anger. Getting transfixed on the challenge, the adversity, the abnormality, of the perceived disability is both common and unhelpful.And we are as likely focusing on all that’s wrong as we walk through an airport as when we stare into a mirror disappointed by the reflection.But since there is no greater disability in society than the inability to see a person as more, choose to see the ability, the possibility, the beauty, the good.Choose to see yourself and others as so much more than some limiting perspective. Choose to see more.It will shape the way you walk through an airport and the way you approach the days, weeks, and life ahead.This is your day. Live Inspired. ... See MoreSee Less

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