Teachers Are Everywhere

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I’m big on inspiration.

It’s the spark inside of you that lights a fire under your ass, instantly. The pure excitement from that deep place inside of you. The place that makes you most excited about life, and want to get up in the morning. The things in life that you enjoy doing so much that it seldom feels like work.

Yesterday, I Stumbled Upon a video on a great blog that I wasn’t aware of called, Wasabi Burger, which inspired me more than almost anything I’ve ever seen. It made my mind explode with excitement, and inspiration, and motivation.

So, I wanted to share it here. I think everyone in the world should watch it, and get to know Derrick. The world would be a better place if more people tried to live like him. By watching him speak for just a few minutes, he made me want to live a better life. I love people like that.

First, watch this.

**Go directly to the bottom of this post if you want to find out how to directly support Derrick now, and buy a bottle of his virtual “soap”.**

This brilliant video was created and produced by Zack Arias. He is a photographer from Atlanta, Georgia and has an inspiring blog that combines photography, film making, and stories that motivate. And, although I am not a professional photographer, there are very few things I love more than a brilliant documentary.

His simplicity and production of this piece on Derrick just blew me away. Not only was Derrick remarkable, but Zack had the wherewithal to recognize his brilliance. And, then he had the smarts to pull out his camera and ask him questions. Most people would just close the door, while mumbling “no, thanks.” Zack realized that God had shown up to him in the form of a soap salesman, and then decided to share his story virtually.

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A few things struck me about what Derrick said. These were the quotes from the short film that stood out to me most, and below them in italics are my reactions to them. The quotes are directly from things said in the video by Derrick.

“Hard work, sacrifices and discipline.”

No one has ever become successful without these things. I forget this sometimes, and believe that I can analyze, think, or be inspired to being successful. I really think motivation and inspiration are a key to life, but without the hard work, discipline, and sacrifices to back them up, there’s no follow-through. And, as Jack Johnson says, “Don’t Let Your Dreams be Dreams.”

“Whatever you generate is totally up to you.”

It’s all about personal responsibility. Just like Zack said in the beginning of the video, it’s like Derrick read his blog before showing up at his door. That’s how I feel too. All of the life lessons that Derrick spoke of and described are things that resonate so deeply, and recently, with me. Whatever you generate is totally up to you. You have personal responsibility for everything in your life. How you react to every moment in life is completely up to you, and in turn, what you generate is totally up to you.

“I’ve come to find out that there’s a lot of people who have made bad choices in their life and they got connected with some good people and they got encouragement and support and today they are actually doing pretty good. And, it’s encouraging.”

We all make bad choices. Big or small, we all do. I have trouble with forgiving myself for bad choices I’ve made in the past. But, by not forgiving yourself, or dwelling on those bad choices, you are bringing those past mistakes into the present moment and forcing yourself to relieve them again, and again. None of us deserves that, and every person makes bad choices. And, none of mine have been felonies. Thank God. So, maybe my bad choices aren’t so bad, and I should forgive myself for them. Maybe we all should.

• “You have to keep yourself in a positive state of mind to every individual you greet.”

Self explanatory, simple, and to the point. If you don’t feel like being positive, for whatever reason, we owe it to every person that we meet to be in a positive state of mind. It makes the world a better place.

• If you don’t put 110% effort in, you’re gonna be sitting in the same position for the next 10 years. Then you’re gonna wonder what happened to the time.”

Just like the first quote says. It’s all about hard work, sacrifices, and effort. If you neglect that part of the equation, you’ll be stagnant.

• “You have to understand how the other person feels… then you can never get upset… you can’t allow yourself to get negative or upset about it.”

Empathy and compassion are underrated. We all want to feel understood. In addition, the way people react is rarely about you. We are all selfish individuals that think it’s about us, but it’s not. It’s about them. So, don’t let another’s response upset you.

• “I don’t believe in accidents or coincidences. So, I believe that whoever God ordains to listen to me with a smile, and allows me to speak… I believe that those are the individuals I’m lookin’ for.”

I haven’t spoken much about spirituality on here. I have issues with religion, and others pressing their beliefs upon me, so I guess I’m reluctant to use a public platform to ‘preach’. But, I believe there are no accidents. I believe the meaning of life is to learn lessons. God puts people in our path that are best chosen to teach us what we need to learn. Even if it’s your asshole boss, or coworker. I’ve realized recently that it’s the most difficult people that teach us the most, and we should be grateful for them. No matter how much you want to strangle them at times.

But, the people that you connect with in life, the people that just get you… that’s what life’s all about. It’s about finding those that connect with you and understand you.

• “You can’t even allow yourself to believe that you are not important or that you’re insignificant without acceptance, or approval or without the latest haircut, or the latest sneakers or whatever.”

My favorite part of this quote is, “you can’t even allow yourself…”

• “Everything takes time. You have to be patient with yourself, and kind of pace yourself. Make some larger goals and make them coincide, so that when you achieve the small goals you get closer to your large goals but you are continuously growing at the same time and building confidence and your self-esteem.”

Just about the most self explanatory bit of awesomeness. I need to hang this on my wall.

• “We need to find things that are motivating to us and dwell on those things because it is so easy to fall into a slump, and then use that slump as an excuse to make bad choices or to give up.”

I’m so glad Derrick honed in on all of my problems in life in one simple sentence.

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I’m so motivated and inspired by this short film and Derrick’s views on life. If a soap salesman that does cold sales, going door to door in Georgia, with prior felonies can have such a damn good outlook on life, any of us can.

**Zack Arias set up a paypal account to be able to donate directly to Derrick, and buy his virtual “soap”. There’s no way to actually get the soap packed and shipped, but if you want to thank Derrick for his incredible message, you can DONATE here. Just go to the bottom of his original post, and he added a paypal link at the bottom . Zack is also taking care of the paypal fees, so that if you donate $1, that’s exactly how much goes to Derrick.**

Thank you Zack for making this video, and Derrick for making me want to life a better life.

Tagged as: Blogging, Inspiration, Personal Responsibility, Positivity