My previous post discussed the fact of life that there are times when we won’t get a chance to repeat an occasion, as much as we may like to. We shouldn’t resent such a reality, but we should appreciate every opportunity that comes our way and endeavor to savor it while we can. Does this mean, however, that we ought to take a back seat in our own lives and assume we only get one shot to do something impactful? More than that, should we bow out of matters that no one has ever done before, assuming that we couldn’t be the first to accomplish such a feat?
Like I’ve shared before, I enjoy evaluating what makes an industry that is a fixture in our society so successful. Earlier this year, two documentaries scratched that itch: How Disney® Built America and Jim Henson: Idea Man. Excuse my juvenile tastes! Regardless, both programs reveal how these two masterminds reached their superstar status by looking into possibilities that had never been imagined, much less done, and being bold enough to make them happen.
I won’t detail their processes and individual stories, but I really appreciated the way the narratives broke down how crazy the men’s notions appeared at the time. I was born after both of them became the industry giants we consider them to be, so I never viewed them in a revolutionary light. To me, why wouldn’t there be a Disneyland® or The Muppet Show®? They’ve provided hours of entertainment to the masses, so how could anyone have challenged such concepts?
The documentaries took me back to the period when those accepted staples were no more than a hazy concept. In Disney’s case, his cartoons alone were groundbreaking, especially when he contrived making them into feature-length films. To springboard off that unprecedented success and get into the amusement park business, though, was mind-boggling to those around him. Similarly, people in Jim Henson’s day saw puppets as children’s toys, not stars of a television series or movie franchise that could entertain adults.
Obviously, the men dispelled those skepticisms…but it took time and resilience. They had to maintain confidence in their dreams in order to trudge through the rejections of people basically saying, “That’s never been done before.”
Disney and Henson are just two of many who’ve shown the courage to test supposed never ever after’s in the entertainment world and beyond. It’s a simple fact that everything in our daily lives started with somebody conceiving an idea, but we often shy away from being that somebody. We might be scared that we’ll fail, particularly if we’re told it’s a never ever after or even worse, if it was tried without success by someone else. Or we might prefer to wait for somebody who’s “better” than us to swoop in and take that privilege.
Instead of caving into such natural instincts, we should endeavor to take a chance on ourselves. “Never” can be intimidating to hear, but if we put in the work, we’ll have the opportunity to silence it. Just as dreams like Disneyland® and The Muppet Show® are now undisputed fixtures in entertainment, our dream could be a normal part of the landscape someday, too.
Wrapping up this concept of never ever after, “never” does have a rightful place in the language of life. While it’s prudent of us to be aware of it and accept it as necessary, we don’t need to be afraid of it. Rather, we should open our eyes and minds to the countless other terms in the dictionary…including those we may well invent on our own!
KarinaBartow.com 
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