Make your life spectacular!

In my search for motivational video clips during our Fitness Challenges, I have often come across this very inspirational speech by Robin Williams:

“Please, don’t worry so much.
Because in the end, none of us have very long on this Earth.
Life is fleeting.
And if you’re ever distressed, cast your eyes to the summer sky
when the stars are strung across the velvety night.
And when a shooting star streaks through the blackness, turning night into day…
make a wish and think of me.
Make your life spectacular.
I know I did.”

I had always been a huge fan of the actor, and I think I have watched the movie “Dead Poet Society” more than 10 times.  But it has always puzzled me what the Robin Williams meant when he said, “Make your life spectacular”, because the words just don’t make sense, knowing that he took his own life in 2014…

“Goodnight, my love,” he said to his wife, Susan Schneider Williams, on the evening of 10 August 2014. The next day, his home in a suburb of Marin County, San Francisco, became a shrine of mourning as news of his death made headlines around the world. Williams died at the age of 63, a tragic end to a brilliant life.

What most of us didn’t know at the time, was that Williams had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease only a few months before his death, but the very sad part is this:  Robin Williams never found out that he had been suffering from the neurological disease Lewy body dementia, a diagnosis that only came to his widow with a post-mortem following his death.

I cannot imagine what Williams had to endure – despite outward appearances in his final on-screen role in “Night at the Museum”, on set he had been struggling to remember his lines.  In private, the final months of his life had been consumed by anxiety, panic attacks and insomnia, with no concrete explanation as to why.

Williams, known for his quick wit, his genius, his ability to always raise a smile, was no doubt incredibly afraid in his final days, unable to work out why his brilliant mind was, as he must have seen it, letting him down. 

And yet, he said: “Make your life spectacular…?”

I only discovered yesterday that this iconic line comes from The 1996 comedy-drama ‘Jack’, starring Williams in the title role – the film barely recuperated its budget at the global box office, and the reviews were awful. 

It’s a bit ironic that Robin Williams’ most inspiring quote came from his worst movie.  But, while ‘Jack’ didn’t exactly catch fire how it was supposed to, the film did offer audiences what I feel to be the most inspirational movie quote of Robin Williams’ sensational career.

To give you a little context, Jack is about a boy who ages much faster than other children. By the time he reaches the end of college, he has the body of an old man on his way to the grave. It’s during his college graduation speech that Jack gives his peers some serious life advice…

Why did I find it necessary to write about being spectacular today?

Not all of us will be able to live our lives to the same heights as a globally recognizable superstar like Robin Williams. The man made more money and saw more parts of the world than most of us could ever hope to see.

But that doesn’t mean we can’t make OUR lives spectacular. After all, ‘spectacular’ isn’t an absolute. It could mean anything.

But it should always mean something that lights a fire inside of you.

The literal definition of the word ‘Spectacular’, according to the Collins Dictionary, is: “Something very impressive or dramatic.” Elsa Nursey, our oldest member at 85, is currently on a trip to Morocco and Elsa and Wollie have left for Malawi – that’s mighty spectacular.

Last Wednesday we hosted our Movement Marathon and that was pretty damn spectacular.  Having 88 people at our studio, moving, and smiling, and working out together, was simply amazing.  To me, living a spectacular life is not always about going places, it’s about doing things we don’t normally do. Creating memories that we would take with us into the future. Having experiences that we haven’t had before. Enjoying downtime. Moving a little bit slower, without the quiet pressure of the hustle in our minds.

As the American inspirational speaker, Ester Hicks describes it: “If all you did was just look for things to appreciate, you would live a joyously spectacular life.”  Esther Abraham Hicks.

If you and I can take positive aspects of our lives and turn them into something more, I’d say we’re living a spectacular existence.

In one week, our Winter Challenge kicks off  – almost 90 people have already said “yes”.  They are in, boots and all.  We are going to do our best to make this 21^st Challenge the best one ever.   If you are joining the Challenge, you should ask yourself one thing – am I going to do as less as possible, simply cruising through, or is this one going to be spectacular?  Just remember, It takes a lot of unspectacular preparation, to get spectacular results.

And if you’re not part of the Challenge, I hope you are going to make this coming, cold winter a spectacular one!  It’s up to you. 

In the summer of 2012, Robin Williams wrote a note in the inside cover of his Twelve Steps book, just a short sentence detailing what he hoped might be his legacy. “I want to help people be less afraid.”

What will your legacy one day be…?

Yours in fitness

Mirna

082 779 0507