Monday, April 15, 2013

Inspired by Chelsea Handler...no, seriously

Of all the celebrities out there to choose from nowadays, seems a bit surprising I would pick this gal, known for her mean comedic pokes and no-care attitude, for my list of inspiration sources, right? Well, although I've always found her magnetic in some odd way, I recently put it all together. It was more than 10 years ago, Chelsea Handler jumped off the screen at me in this goofy comedic 'candid camera' type show called Girls Behaving Badly. There was just something about her...actually I know exactly what it was. She stood out to me as the type of person that commits 100% - if she's gonna do it, she's gonna do it all the way, which totally showed. BUT, she has a way of making everyone else believe that she doesn't really care. I'm really not sure if she would agree with me here (or totally make fun of this entire blog post all together...likely), but I am guessing that for most of her life, she was determined to achieve 'success'. It just seems so much to me that when she goes after something, she does it with everything she's got. I mean, this amazing success that she has achieved to date did not come accidentally. Although paid extremely well nowadays, it is a TON of work!

She oddly enough reminds me of myself in some ways, and completely not in others. So, here are my top 5 reasons why Chelsea Handler is on my list of people who inspire me:

1) In her rise to fame and success, it seems to be that she cares about others, and wants them to rise with her. Ok, who am I to make this call, but hear me out here. I've noticed that in almost everything she does, she does it with others. Think about it...Chuy, Chelsea's sidekick, has risen to his own star with her daily nighttime show. She also starts the show with multiple comedic guests, and while she often totally rides them on public tv, she does share the spotlight and gives them face time. It is all in good fun, and often quite entertaining. I just love that she seems to make it NOT all about her, and I have a lot of respect for that.

2) She is the master of dry wit. I'm SO envious!! It is often my husband or a friend will jokingly say something to me, and I just yearn for the ability to throw a quick come-back (of course all in good fun). Instead I can only laugh, and then about 30 minutes later think of a decent retort that is now completely lame in wasted time. I'm too 'nice' and it is no fun in moments like those!

3) She's honest. This is a tough one for me, as I highly value honesty, but I also place importance on empathy and the feelings of others (likely too much at times). Sometimes I think she crosses the line in her honesty about others (or flatly flies past it), but I also see a softness in her recently that I think comes with maturity. It is more her honesty about herself that I truly admire. She has this awesome way of not taking herself too seriously, or the people around her, that makes me want to be one of her best girlfriends. There is just nothing better than an honest girlfriend that tells you like it is...and makes you laugh!

4) She's hard working. She films her show daily, has written something like 5 books in the past 7 years (many of which have landed on the New York Times best seller list), and she also has a mokumentory called  After Lately that has become a big hit of it's own. I think I also read somewhere that she created her own production company. This lady clearly works her butt off and has some serious work-ethic.

5) She's clearly to the point in her life where she does not live for the opinion of others. This has been a personal struggle of my own, and honestly this business has helped me GREATLY along the way. I remember vividly an Oprah interview with Jennifer Aniston where they talked about how great it was to get older and to stop living so much for others. I found myself much through my twenties caring immensely what others thought about my decisions, life, and success. It was when I discovered this amazing balance between empathy for others, and confidence in my own beliefs and decisions, that I was able to let go, and in the end make better decisions all the way around. From everything I've seen with Chelsea, she seems so confident in who she is and what she wants. That inspires me on many levels, but most of all because I feel she lives her life with intention and doesn't seem to waste time confusing people-pleasing ways with her own purpose.

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