Life Is Beautiful: Part X.

Life Is Beautiful

Part X: The Black Panther In Our Family[1],[2]

“Great achievement is usually born of great sacrifice, and is never the result of selfishness.”

—Napoleon Hill

A Blockbuster Success

Marvel Studios’ global blockbuster movie, The Black Panther, is the largest revenue generating superhero film of all time, approaching $1.5 billion. Many feel it will be nominated for several 2018 Academy Awards. It addresses some critical issues which are timely for the world we live in, namely, there is great opportunity in diversity, and the human race is interconnected in ways that are much more critical than money and power.

Nearly the all the cast members are people of color, and women play an important role in helping the protagonist, the Black Panther, succeed in his mission. The movie dispels an age-old Hollywood prejudice, namely that movies with cast members who are primarily people of color have a limited market. The film goes a long way to showing how successful nations can help create a better world for all by sharing their technological advances with those countries that are less developed or oppressed.

Director, producer, screenwriter Joe Robert Cole (Figure 1) who wrote this blockbuster movie is my son-in-law. I’m certainly very proud of Joe, but that’s not why I’m sharing this message with you. As someone who has spent years studying and writing about how to create a happy, abundant and fulfilled life, I want to share an excellent example of how it can be done.

Joe’s life is a clear illustration of someone successfully traveling a journey of success, abundance and fulfillment as discussed in my books, BALANCE: The Business-Life Connection¹ and Life Is Beautiful: 12 Universal Rules².

Path To Success

Before looking at the specifics of Joe’s life, let’s take a look at the general path to success, fulfillment and happiness. There are two important steps in this process. The first thing has to do with the Meaning of Life, which is to dig deep inside and find out what special gifts you brought into this world with you. Everyone has their own. There are usually one, two, maybe three things you are really good at and love to do. They give your great pleasure and satisfaction.

The second point addresses the Purpose of Life. You must find a way to share these gifts with others in a way that brings value to the world and to you. That’s it, it’s that simple!

These gifts are part of your Essence,the true you. You might call it your Personal Consciousness.They fall in two categories, “hard” and “soft.” The hard gifts could be special capabilities in the arts, music, dance, sports, math, science, writing, storytelling, computers, mechanics, etc. The soft type could be personal strengths in empathy, compassion, courage, resiliency, patience, self-awareness, social-awareness, relations-management, etc.

The biggest challenge besides identifying your gifts is our general perception of the definition of success. The prevalent definition has evolved over the past several hundred years and began forming at the onset of the Industrial revolution in the 18^thcentury. Consider a metaphor for this definition where Successis pictured as the seat of a three-legged stool (Figure 2). It is supported by three legs represented by Money, Powerand Purpose, respectively. In the free world, a kind of social and cultural hypnosis has been subtly communicated by parents, teachers, the media, reward systems, etc. It primarily values and focuses on Moneyand Power(Recognition).

However, only Purposeconnects to the deepest roots of the human spirit and its unmitigated innate need to serve. We all have it, although it can be heavily camouflaged, depending on external influences that start at the moment of birth, maybe even before then. This connection is so much stronger than Moneyand Powerthat it is the only one of the three legs that can support the stool on its own. Truth be told, it is also the one element of success that provides deep long-lasting fulfillment and satisfaction, and, of course, happiness.

Thus, we find numerous examples of successful people who found and pursued their Purposeand ended up receiving lots of Moneyand Recognition, and those who didn’t do as well financially, still experienced immense personal fulfillment. Likewise, there are ample examples of those who focused on MoneyandPower and never found the bliss from Purpose-created success.

Once you find that talent you came into this world with, the one you do very well, and with pleasure, then you must connect it with a need that makes the world a better place. That becomes your PURPOSEand it cannot help but unleash incredible PASSION, which generates high levels of physical and emotional ENERGIES, enabling you to tap into a CREATIVITY that fosters INNOVATIVE solutions to difficult challenges. This inevitably provides a REWARD. It may be financial, emotional, spiritual, or some combination and that produces intense GRATITUDE. And GRATITUDE is always the source of long-term, abundance, happiness and fulfillment.

Joe’s Journey

When Joe was writing the script for this film he told me he wanted to create the movie he wished he could have seen on the screen when he was a kid. His journey to this success was not straightforward and easy. Here’s a summary of how happened.

An African American, Joe was born in Cleveland, Ohio, famous primarily as home to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Born to Terry Cole, a single mother, Joe never knew his father. Because she was a single mother and a woman of color during a time when even greater prejudice that exists today permeated our social fabric, Terry had great difficulty getting employment. So she and Joe move around a lot. This made it difficult for Joe to make lasting friendships. To compensate for this, at an early age, he began to write stories about make-believe friends. They were good stories and interesting to all who read them, including his teachers. And Joe loved the process of creative writing. He didn’t know it at the time, but he had discovered his special gift—storytelling.

As Joe and his mom moved around the country, she in search of employment, Joe finally decided he wanted to be a professional writer. At this point a negative turn could have occurred as is often the case with children drawn to careers in writing. Terry could have advised him of the challenges of becoming a writer professionally—How will you do financially? Writing is a risky business. But she didn’t. Quite the contrary. She encouraged Joe to follow his dream.

Joe and Terry moved to California and he eventually enrolled at The University of California at Berkeley where he studied creative writing. Before graduation he decided he would focus all of his writing talents on screenplays for movies that eventually he would like to direct. He wanted to write, produce and direct films that would make a positive difference in the world. He was advised by many so-called experts that this would not be an easy journey. That didn’t deter Joe. He wanted to spend his time doing what he loved, what he was good at, and where he was convinced he could make a special contribution.

Although a graduate from one of the top universities in the U.S., Joe took menial jobs that gave him the flexibility to spend quality time writing movie scripts. It was a long haul, nearly 10 years before his star began to rise. Hi first big break came when he was asked to write a few of the episodes for a successful TV series called The American Crime Scene—The Story of O. J. Simpson. Simpson was a successful all-star American football athlete and subsequent movie actor, who was accused and tried for killing his wife. The series won wide acclaim and received several Emmy Awards in 2017.

As a consequence of that success, Joe was asked to write the screenplay for The Black Panther. He finally got the chance to do what he dreamed—create a major film that makes a positive difference in the world. All indications by reviews of the film are that he succeeded in doing just that.

I asked Joe how he felt about those 10 challenging years of very simple living before his success. He said that even though his jobs at the time provided only the basic essentials of life, as long as he could provide for his family, the simple life didn’t bother him. He was grateful for the time he had to write, which is his passion. That passion more than compensated for any hardship.

Joe discovered his talents early on—making movies with a positive message. His Passionwent from a spark to a wildfire when he found a way to connect his innate gift with a need that made the world a better place. If you’ve seen The Black Panther, I hope you’ll agree the film does that (Figure 3).

Yes, the entertainment business is quite challenging, and Joe works hard at his craft. But passion feeds persistence. That’s why he always views any setbacks as “learnings” and not mistakes. So, his odyssey has been one of discovery, rather than drudgery.

Although Joe works diligently at his craft, he’s a caring husband and a dedicated father of two lovely children. While creating his successes, in addition to his immediate family he has always been there for his mom and other members of the Cole family—a perfect example of Life is Love and Love is Life.

So if you haven’t discovered your natural talent—that special gift you came into this world with—you absolutely cando it! Don’t give up! It’s never too late. Ray Croc, founder of McDonalds didn’t find his until he was in his 50s.

Simply summarized, The Meaning of Life is to find your Special Gift, and the Purpose of Life is to Share it with others and make this a Better World.

Sat, Chit, Ananda!
Enjoy your journey, make a difference!

 

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[1] EDITOR’S COMMENT— This is the tenth article in a series based on the author’s book, “Life Is Beautiful: 12 Universal Rules,”Waterfront Press, Cardiff California, 2015.

[2]  The author may be reached at Jim@ChateauMcely.Com.