New Year's 2023 & The California Girl
Ryan W. McClellan, MS
Senior Marketing Manager | Digital Marketing Specialist | Entrepreneur | Author | Public Speaker | Business Consultant
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Can someone kindly tell my neighbors to stop playing with fireworks? Because they are scaring my four cats and I woke up thinking I was in Ukraine somewhere...
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I wanted to tell you a story first.
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The Girl That Never Quits
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So, I woke up this morning to the sound of vagrant fireworks.
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Pardon the lack of articles published, but it has been a rough week. Bipolar Disorder is, suffice it to say, wasted energy. It is a useless disease, but today, I found hope.
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I woke up to the sound of a "ding, ding, ding" as suddenly, messages from a close friend/musician/influencer began to pour in.
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I have known this person (let us call her "California Girl") for several years now, dating back to my time as a Music Promoter and Manager.
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She was always a very talented musician, and she was always characterized by a single entity: her ability to capitalize on failure, and her endurance.
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Once someone asked me what it takes to be a successful person.
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I responded without emphasis:
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"Heart. Miles and miles of heart."
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Then Time Passed...As It Always Does
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As with all of us, we fall victim to the dissident emphatic response of "losing touch," which is something this modern day and age has fixed rather cautiously with social media.
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In this case, we remained close friends until something happened: she began to fall face-first, without any fault of her own, as life seemed to come up from behind.
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Like many of us, it snuck up on her began to throw punches.
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And like most, she never did a damned thing to deserve that.
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It is ethereally sad to think that, on this New Year's Eve, many of us are alone; many of us are sad; many of us are lonely...
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But California Girl, somehow, still managed to make me smile.
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As The Fireworks Crackled
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As the fireworks crackled outside, waking me from a peaceful slumber and into the hands of sudden boredom, I spent an hour talking to her.
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(No, this is not a love letter; it is plutonic love).
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She told me that she was being kicked out of her apartment, but that did not stop her from sending me a copy of her latest album, which was terrific, to say the least.
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We spoke for a bit, discussing the situation, talking about future plans, and that was when I was reminded of something we all need to take a lesson from tonight.
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Selye's Rats & The Hand That Feeds You
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Hans Selye was the famous Behavioral Psychologist who, despite his unique semblance working with rats on facets such as operant conditioning and GAS, had a secret.
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Though many do not know much about this telltale experiment, it was called "General Adaptation Syndrome," and it reminded me of my California Girl.
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What This Has To Do With New Year's
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I promise that this has a point tonight, and when you read this tomorrow morning, after missing out on the comedic failures of Anderson Cooper on CNN, it will make sense.
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Selye was a bit of a weird one. He was not exactly a circular influencer within the Psychology realm, and many have confused him with B.F. Skinner.
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Much like Skinner, Selye used rats.
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Selye's Rats & New Years
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One day, Selye began to shock rats repeatedly, in short intervals. He noticed that the rats in question began to fight back at first, attacking the wires that bound them.
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But they were met with a semblance: the shocks, despite their attacks, did not disappear. So, after hours of fighting, they entered a second stage: "Resistance."
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This is the point where the ends always seem to justify the means, and our concentration falls short; our bodies grow tired; we try to repair.
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Finally, if we are not given the time to rest, regain, and restore (much like Selye's rats), we lose our focus; we become agitated; we become, well...
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...Exhausted?
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That was what General Adaptation Syndrome found: when you fight back, and still feel those horrible shocks, you begin to adapt; you become accustomed to pain.
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Finally, the rats reached exhaustion, and many died after being shocked. It was not the electricity that killed them. Rather, they just shut down.
领英推荐
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One Rat, However....
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There is one rat that I cannot seem to find on Google, or in any psychological journal, but I do recall it from memory: it was the only rat that survived the experiment.
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Rumor has it that the rat not only broke free of the electric shock. It became stronger, its muscles flexed, and its body even more alive than?before the shocks!
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Where California Girl Fits Into This
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The one rat that survived, conjectured by the fa?ade, actually developed something rather unique in contrast: a renewed outlook on life.
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Yes, rats have lives, and this rat lived six more years - four years longer than the estimated lifespan of a typical lab rat. California Girl became that rat.
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She released an album with me, and as the first listener, I do have to say that I am impressed not so much by the music itself but rather, by California Girl.
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The Connection To New Years Eve
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When did the question move from "Happy New Years" to "Rats are being shocked?"
When did I lose you? Well, here is the grand finale...
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Now, I bring this all up to make a powerful point: as the fireworks crackle on this momentous day, and as you wake from your slumber, remember that rat.
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New Year's is a dark time for many people.
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In the short span between the moment that ball dropped, I can assure you that those fireworks were extinguished by a darkness we have to live by: high suicide rates.
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That is an article for another day, so please click here to subcribe so you can read it, as, I would rather send a more useful, albeit, heartwarming message today.
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Yes, I plan on publicly speaking out tomorrow morning about the suicide rates that are climbing up daily, and the reason I am not writing about that is, I need statistics.
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California Girl Gave Me Something
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It was hope for the human race.
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On her darkest day, she still had the strength to share a marvelous album; to trust me enough to listen; to be homeless, yet still find a way to sell me on an idea.
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What You Need To Hear
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What happened tonight with my friend, California Girl (I am deeming her by a new name: California Hope), showed me something:
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There are a select few of us who are able to withstand such density, and as said once in M. Night Shyamalan's movie: "Glass..."
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"There are unknown forces that don't want us to know the things we suspect are extraordinary about ourselves are real...
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"...I believe that if everyone sees what just a few people become when they wholly embrace their gifts, others will awaken...
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..."Believe in oneself is contagious. We give each other permission to be superheroes."
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- Elijah Price, "Glass"
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Celebrations & What To Realize Today
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California Girl, if I find the courage to, I will send this article to you. If not, I believe I have already told you: you are the rat that kept fighting the electric shocks.
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You bit the cord.
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Regardless of the repercussions of the music industry, a fatality we have to accept as a dying breed, California Girl made me think of that one rat.
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Essentially, it reminds me that humankind of good; live by the dynamic human spirit that refuses to submit in the midst of pain and deception.
?Yes, even in the form of electric shock.
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First and foremost, if you are in any way, shape, or form thinking of suicide, contact the Suicide Help Line immediately. Not anything to do with California Girl, just saying.
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Second & More Important Of All
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California Girl, you taught me a valuable lesson. Some of us quit; some of us are not recognized in their own time; and some of us simply do not fall.
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Happy New Years, everyone. Stay safe, do not launch fireworks too close to your house, and remember that if you are feeling lonely, you are not alone.
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P.S. Circle 5 Books is back up at www.circle5books.com.
So is Valiance Coaching at www.valiancecoaching.org.