Ben’s Arctic Conundrum

Ben’s Arctic Conundrum

I have known many adventurous souls who died young.
I have also seen men
Who grew old with comfort,
Whose passion was frozen with caution,
Whose reach was frostbitten by restraint,
Whose dreams were crushed between sheets of conformity,
Who were deafened by the noise in their brains,
Who became unreasonable by thinking,
And who were forever lost in the great wasteland of civilization.

-Anton Uhl-

Ben Saunders is an extreme adventurer. If you think your life is challenging, take a look at his website.

Rick Frishman Interview

Anton & Rick Frishman

Anton Uhl

Telephone Interview with

Rick Frishman

Best Selling Author, Publisher & Speaker

Publicity and Publishing for Entrepreneurs & Businesses

February 4, 2010.

Note: I have included our introductory preamble because I felt it gave an insight into Rick’s grace and humanity, just as a line sketch can reveal much about an artist.

Intro:

A: Hello, this is Anton.

R: Hey Anton. It’s Rick Frishman calling from the car. Just letting you know I’m on the way to a doctor’s appointment so I probably will have to call you back in a couple of hours. I just didn’t want you to think I forgot you.

A: I appreciate your consideration. I look forward to your call back. I hope everything’s OK with you at the doctor’s.

R: All is well. Just a check up, but I just wanted to let you know, alright?

A: OK. I’m prepared, and I only have 3 questions for you so it’ll be short.

R: Alright. Shoot. What are our questions. Let’s get as much of it done with it as we can.

A: Alright, I appreciate it.

R: OK.

Interview:

A: You have worked with some of the most respected and powerful minds of our time. What is it that you know that gives you the humility to give your time to an, as yet, undiscovered author such as myself?

R: I know that, first of all, anybody and everybody can become famous and rich if they work and study and meet the right people and do what [successful] people do. I’ve worked with hundreds of people who are unknown and studied with all the greats and worked their butt off and then did it so, you gotta respect everybody, and you gotta love everybody and help them. You never know. And then some of the people, like Mark Victor Hansen and Jack Canfield and Harv Ecker and Nicholas Sparks, just to name a few, I mean, when we started with them, no one knew who the hell they were. Your real character comes out when you treat everybody the same, whether they’re famous or not. And that’s with respect and realizing that everybody is a good person and [realize] what they are now and what they can be.

A: Rick, that’s terrific. You know, we had Jill St. John and R.J. Wagner on my cooking show day before yesterday and that’s exactly what we experienced. So wonderful what you’re saying. I felt that way in your presence at the Marketing Seminar.

Here’s my second question:

With access to so many great teachers these days, how can I ensure that our encounters will result in a mutual attraction and not a permanent turn-off?

R: I think the first thing is, when you’re reacting and dealing with people who are busy and well-known [you] understand that they have hundreds and hundreds of people every week calling after them, and typically, most people are users and manipulators and just try and get something from them. So, the main thing always is, go to them and say, “How can I help you?”  And mean it. Have a way that you can help them in some way. But don’t just go to them and ask them for something because, frankly, there’s no reason that they’re going to need to or want to help you unless it’s a win-win situation. And that’s with everybody.

So, understand that their time is valuable.

Secondly, talk in sound-bites. You have 30 seconds. If you can get your point across in 30 seconds, shut up and go away.

A: We’re down to my last question and you’ve already started answering it, and that is:

When someone like yourself gives me their valuable time and advice, how can I reciprocate and be of best value to them?

R: Again, you know, only when you’re on with someone, do the same thing and say, “How is it that I can help you or reciprocate or do something for you?” Usually, there won’t be anything, but the fact that you asked shows that you’re a mensch, which is yiddish for a good person,

A: I understand.

R: And then, you know, generally try to do something where, you know, post something on your blog, help them with what they’re doing. Let the world know that this person is genuine and has helped you and is a good person. Just spread the word. But, reality, you’re probably not gonna  be able to help the majority of those people but, at least try and do whatever you can because, you know, believe it or not, they check out Boom-Boom searches and other things and they see if you’ve posted something, that you’ve done something. Just do whatever you can, in anyway  you can, but realize probably you’re not going to be able to do that much that it is gonna make a difference for them, you know, that big of person. But that’s OK. Just try.

A: Well, Rick,  you sound to me just like you did when we met you in LA and I was so drawn to you because of your humanity, your humility and your brilliance so, thank you for your time today. I hope that everything’s OK at the doctor’s, that it goes well.

R: Thank you. All is well.

A: I look forward to seeing you in LA at the Author 101 in March.

R: Yes. Alright. You got it. Thank you, sir.

A: Drive safely. Be well.

R: OK.

A: Bye Bye.

Rick Frishman’s Website:

http://www.rickfrishman.com/index.html

Rick’s Blog

http://www.rickfrishman.com/blog/index.php

Sail On

In 2007, I wrote this song for a little boy named Mason who, despite suffering from life-threatening spina bifida, (a birth defect in which the backbone and spinal canal do not close before birth,) was one of the most optimistically energetic and joyful people I have ever met.

It is a song about purpose, trust, and taking action.

“Sail On”

God has a plan for me, I know.
I won’t be left out on the shore.
Sail on. Sail on. Sail on.

There’s a connection that runs right through the middle of a man.
There’s a connection that can’t be broken.
Keep it open with your heart, with your heart.
That’s the only strength you’ll need today.

Albatross with a broken wing,
What’s in your heart will make you sing.
You don’t need those feathers
To keep your dream together.

Like the sunlight dancing on the waves,
Despite the storm clouds, I’ll be brave.
It only takes one thing to save a man from himself.
Sail on. Sail on. Sail on.

You listen to your daddy:
There just ain’t nothin’ you can’t do.
You listen to your daddy. He knows the truth:
There just ain’t nothin’ you can’t do.
For there are sailors and there are saints.
There are can-dos and there are cain’ts.
Sail on. Sail on. Sail on.

Like the sunlight, you’ll be dancing on the waves.
Despite the storm clouds, we will be brave.
It only takes one thing to save a man from himself.
Sail on. Sail on. Sail on.

The Waterfall

This morning when I was in the shower I could hear water. Well, duh, you say.

No. Really. I could hear water but what was weird was I heard a lot more water than was splashing out of the shower-head. A lot more.

I listened and I realized it sounded like I was at the bottom of a waterfall in the mountains. No. It was bigger. It was a waterfall in Hawaii. It got louder and louder and wider and bigger.

I was in awe.

I was at the base of a huge waterfall that was growing before my eyes and ears. The more I listened, the bigger it got.

I asked myself what all this water was. I wondered if it was as big as Niagara Falls. Victoria Falls? I wondered if I was in danger.

It was deafening at first. Then the sunlight started to glow and the water sparkled and it grew quiet. There at the bottom of this massive waterfall with immeasurable gallons of water flowing over me, I felt safe.

More than that, I was stunned when I realized what all this water was:

It was all the knowledge in the world. It was wisdom. It was life.

And it was pouring over me in great abundance.

There is no way any one person could assimilate the totality of these vast riches.

It occurred to me that we can only experience the water that touches us where we are at that moment in space and time. It is this, our immediate proximity, for which we are responsible and which we must experience.

We can move to a different spot and different water will flow over us, different knowledge, but it is the water we ourselves are touching that is our time and place in life.