Archive for the ‘Biography’ Category

The Incident That Motivated Me to Give My Book Away

Tuesday, January 5th, 2010

The Incident That Motivated Me to Go Crazy and Give My Book Away

Ed Osworth - The Joy Professor here. I have been swamped with questions about why I decided to give my book away - since it is already in bookstores. Am I crazy?

I will explain exactly the incident that motivated my change from selling my book to gifting my book.

This year I’ve taught many live Unstoppable Joy classes in Eugene Oregon. The experience was fantastic and it gave me a brand-new perspective on my work.

Every week our group would gather and every week the level of Joy would increase.

And every time I gave the classes something would happen that changed me.

I would look out into the group and I would see someone’s eyes light up when they finally realized how important joy is to their life and discovered their power to create it themselves.

There was a certain student, a single mother recently divorced who was so sad during the first few sessions. It was obvious that she felt life was crushing her. With two teenaged children to support and husband gone her life was very challenging. Even affording the gas to get to the class was a major challenge.

About the fourth session I could see that she had a major breakthrough. She had been practicing the joy creation exercises and they took hold of her. In a few short weeks her eyes had gone from sadness and depression to happiness and elation.

She came up to me after that class in tears expressing her gratitude to me. She said that the simple lessons of Unstoppable Joy and turned her everyday existence around.

No, the challenges in her life had not all magically disappeared. But the way she saw her problems and challenges had entirely changed. She now woke up in the morning looking forward to the day, whereas before she dreaded waking up at all.

While I drove home that evening from class I had a major personal awakening.

There is a crisis going on in the world right now. Job loss, retirement accounts devastated, wage cuts, bankruptcies, lack of credit and soaring interest rates.

It is a crisis that for some has made their future look very uncertain. So many things have shifted economically that millions of folks out there feel like they’re at the end of the ropes.

And many of the folks who need the information in “Unstoppable Joy” the most are the ones who can least afford to pay for it.

I realized that I could no longer hold the powerful information contained in my book from those who could not afford it in these challenging times.

The simple lessons are so powerful that I have seen student after student literally improve every single moment of their day by using them.

To me it simply would not be right to limit the spread of that same joyous effect to as many folks as possible by insisting on payment.

So I created a digital copy of Unstoppable Joy in that will be freely distributed to every single person who signs up for my inspirational messages of my free “Joy News Today” newsletter.

Please help me to spread the joy as far as possible. When anyone in your life looks like they could use more happiness, send them to the site

http://JoyForFree.com

so that they can get their own copy of “Unstoppable Joy.”

Working together we can spread the word far and wide that no matter what the circumstances in your life everyday joy is still an attainable goal.

As a wise man once said “Pain is inevitable but suffering is optional”.

Help me to reduce the suffering part for as many people as we can.

Joy, Peace, Abundance, and Delight

Ed Osworth
The Joy Professor

My Greatest Inspiration is a Man Whose Name I Can’t Remember!

Friday, May 22nd, 2009

My greatest inspiration is a man whose name I can’t remember and who I only met for 8 hours.

I had a period in my early life where I lived as a drifter on the coast of Calif in the early 1970s. At the time I was living on a beach in Monterey with a group of hippies and beatniks in a cave. We would hitchhike into Monterey and dumpster dive for veggies - then bring everything back and make a giant stew over an open fire. We always had more food than necessary and would go up and down the beach inviting strangers to share it with us. Sometimes they would bring us cases of beer in return.

After watching my compatriots all get so drunk one night that they danced on the bonfire barefoot and all burned their feet, I decided that I had to get out of that scene and put my life back on track. I picked up my pack which had all my stuff and hitchhiked back to LA to get a fresh start.

As soon as my thumb went out a huge 1969 Country Squire station wagon pulled over. A nice gentleman and his son were in it, with about 1000 pounds of salmon they bought in Monterey and were taking back to LA. So I had a ride the whole way. Good thing as it had started raining and I only had a worn out cotton jacket and woud soon bev sopping wet without a ride.

I asked about him and his son and he told me just the basics. “I buy and sell fish.” He was a very modest and unassuming man.

Then to my surprise he turns and looks at me with a smile. “Ed, we have a long ride and I love stories. We’ve got 8 hours driving ahead of us so tell me your life story in detail.”

I was flabbergasted. No one had ever wanted to hear about me like that.

Who could possibly be interested in my stupid little life? Heck here I was flat broke sleeping on a beach. I felt like a loser and he wanted to hear everything about me!

He looked very conservative, dressed in a suit and I was a beach bum hippy from Hollywood, an odd couple indeed. I didn’t want to offend him or his son so I said, “well I will if you want but it involves some shady parts, some law breaking and even sex and drugs, I don’t want to upset you or your son.”

He laughed out loud. “Ed, every good story, whether a book, a movie or a life has all that and more. You look to me like one heck of an interesting story. My son is already asleep in the back. Just tell me the whole thing, warts and all. A great pleasure of being here on Earth is learning through others. My eyes can only see a little tiny slice of the world, your eyes will show me more.”

I never forgot those wise words. “My eyes can only see a little tiny slice of the world, your eyes will show me more.”

We drove beautiful highway 1 along the coast for hours. I talked. He bought me lunch at an A&W Root Beer stand while I chatered on. We drove on in the rain along the grey coast, the sun set, I talked. I started from as far back as I could remember and walked him through the traumas, the dramas, the failures and victories, the moral confusion of facing the Vietnam war and realizing I could not kill, the alienation from my parents that decision caused.

As the light dimmed to black and the car echoed with the rhythm of the windshield wipers slapping back and forth, I talked on and on.

What an amazing day. You learn a lot about yourself when you try and relate all those countless details of what you remember of your life to another person.

He never lost interest, no matter how mundane the detail, how pointless the narrative became sometimes.

Instead of disinterest this wonderful man would encourage me on, looking at me with amazement and delight as I went on for 8 hours straight. From the way he treated me you would have though he was listening to the President of the United States or the Pope. He really acted like it was the most interesting story he had ever heard.

When we reached my destination, Topanga Canyon exit in LA’s San Fernando Valley he let me out. He calle me over to the window and said ‘What an amazing story you are Ed”. Then he handed me $20, which in 1972 was about the equivalent of $100 today. I said, “Thanks I’ll be able to go get some food and survive for a few days.”

He said “No, that is not what it is for. This is for you to start a new prosperous life with, not to spend. You take this $20 and you use it to create your new life. Leave behind that interesting but sad story you told me and start a new one. A story with a very happy ending.”

He rolled up the window and I watched the taillights of his Ford Station Wagon fade away as he merged onto the Ventura Freeway in the drizzle. I looked at the $20 and burst into tears of gratitude.

By the next day I had already forgotten his name. I’m sure he forgot me soon afterward.

He changed my life forever with his acts of kindness. I did exactly with that $20 as he said.

Isn’t it funny how sometimes those whose names we cannot even recall can make the greatest difference in our lives?

A Reunion Straight Out of The Movies

Sunday, May 3rd, 2009

Thanks to you all the message of Unstoppable Joy! is taking root in a big way.

I have been so busy that I have not been blogging nearly enough. I have been wrapped up in creating a new animated video with a world class animator. It will demonstrate many of the Unstoppable Joy! principals with humor in under 10 minutes.

Watching this amazing creation take shape in front of my eyes is wonderful. I have always loved animation - and now my ideas will be communicated in this amazing form. I’ll keep you posted but for a hint the name is “The Story of Fear”.

I will be at the “Art in the Park” celebration at the author’s table over the 4th of July weekend this year in Eugene, Oregon and the authors table at the Lane County Fair.

A reunion straight out of the movies.

Just  had a reunion with my old buddy from elementary through high school. He and I were both the social outcasts of the Catholic school - so we bonded very strongly. We really only had each other for friends - no one else would associate with us.

He is now a world famous movie sound engineer (academy nominated and various other awards) who is up in Eugene shooting a movie for the next few weeks.

He is also a fantastic country musician who has played both Grand Ole Opry and Carnegie Hall and over the years has played with eveyone from Willie Nelson to BB King.!

Just like me he became way more than expected :-)

Man Who Dreams of Being Buzz Lightyear Crosses English Channel on Rocket Wings at 100+ MPH!

Saturday, September 27th, 2008

Ed Here.

Don’t EVER tell yourself that you can’t make your dreams come true.

Or that your dream is to “too far out” to “too crazy”  “too ambitious” or worse yet, “too unrealistic”.

To that I say Baloney!

There is no dream that cannot come true in one form or another if you truly believe in it.

Want Proof - Take a gander at this guy!

Who does that suit remind you of?

I come in peace. Picture is From TimesOnline Blog

The above photo is of guy from Switzerland named Yves who had the most impracticable dream imaginable.

Yves dreamed of being able to fly like Buzz Lightyear - the cartoon character in Toy Story.

Imagine how his family, co worker and friends probably reacted when he talked about his dream.

“You wanna do WHAT?”

I bet whatever accomplishment you may be dreaming of bringing to this planet is not half as as crazy as that.

But Yves was consumed by this insane dream.

Talk about unrealistic.

He didn’t give up on that dream. He fixed it in his mind. He visualized himself soaring through the air - like an Eagle - free and unencumbered zooming along on rocket powered wings.

We all have such “crazy” dreams. For most they get pushed away by far more practical thoughts. I mean, come on. Rocket wings? Get real.

Instead of following the masses and allowing himself to believe that dream was out of reach - he went to work. He spent years developing and testing a set of rocket powered wings.

While working on this ridiculous quest he crashed. He got burned.

Unfazed, like the scarred and battered Don Quixote from “The Man of La Mancha” he pushed forward through the disappointments and failed tests and prototypes as he focused on fulfilling his impossible dream.

Today is August 26th, 2008 a great day in the history of fulfilled dreams.

Because today that crazy dreamer flew over the English Channel at over 100 MPH using his rocket powered wings!

To quote eyewitness Charles Bremner from the “Times Online” Blog

“Yves Rossy had just leaped from the safety of his jump plane. Following behind, we watched in awe as “Fusionman” extended the eight foot wings strapped to his back, ending his free-fall and swooped into level flight.

“The Times’ Cessna 182 was part of the little squadron of two helicopters and two planes that escorted Rossy as he made history, zooming like Buzz Lightyear, the spaceman of Toy Story, out into the wide blue yonder.”

Yeah, Yves - you just made our day here on planet earth. Congratulations!

The crazy dreamer is now waving at the masses from high in the sky as he flies like a majestic eagle. We look back up in amazement, humbled by the man who dared to take his dream to completion.

Imagine that you met Yves back years ago when he was just starting out. You hit it off and and you share a drink and talk. He looks deep into your eyes and tells you that he will devote his life to a quest to fly like Buzz Lightyear.

He asks “What do you think?”

Would you have said “Go for it”?

Or perhaps said “I don’t know…maybe you should pursue a more realistic goal”?

Are you giving yourself that same feedback about your crazy dreams?

Unless you are saying “Go for it” to your crazy dream you might be keeping your personal “Eagle of achievement and freedom” stuffed in a tiny cage forever.

If you want to soar through the clouds of greatness like Yves, that Eagle must be free.

What will grow your own greatness? It could be striving for noble deeds or maybe just following an intense desire to have the ability of your favorite cartoon character.

Yves is proof that you never know where that seed of genius and greatness is hiding in you.

It might be even be knocking at your door right now disguised as something familiar …

Like Buzz Lightyear!

BTW: You think maybe inside that helmet Yves was joyously exclaiming to no one in particular…

“TO INFINITY AND BEYOND!”   ?

WAY TO GO YVES - THANKS FOR THE WALLOP OF JOY!!

Ed Osworth
The Joy Professor
Author of “Unstoppable Joy! A Happier You in 12 Simple Steps”
Available overnight from Amazon and at all major booksellers.


Full Story and Link to Top Photo Here

Can One Find The Joy in Personal Tragedy? On The Loss of A Pet.

Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008

I get asked this a lot.

And I am the first to admit that it is VERY difficult to maintain a positive and joyous attitude when a life upheaval throws a major curve ball in your direction.

Unstoppable Joy! A Happier You in 12 Simpler Steps.

Unstoppable Joy! A Happier You in 12 Simple Steps.

Rather than answer the question directly, I will tell you a personal story about how I dealt with a small tragedy in my life about 8 years ago.

I fully realize that every “tragedy” is a bit different and some look way larger than others. Please don’t think I am trying to compare a death of a cat to a diagnosis of terminal cancer.

One size does not fit all tragic situations, that is for certain. But I hope this story can be of value to some of you.

The Story…

I had a cat for 12 years who became my best friend. His name was “Handsome Stranger”.

His company became even more important to me when my wife of 25 years left me.

About a year after she left Handsome fell into very bad health. He got multiple infections and the antibiotics couldn’t bring him out of it.

Every day he got sicker and sicker. He reached the point that he couldn’t even eat anymore. My heart was broken.

Yet he would pretend to eat because he knew I was watching. He saw how much I wanted him to be his old healthy self that he refused to let me see how bad he was.

His health was a one way street leading downhill fast. He would crawl where I couldn’t find him to hide his condition from me. To protect me from the pain he saw in my face when I saw him in his condition.

I knew what I had to do.

As I drove him to the vet for his final injection I told him stories all the way of all the great times we had together. Between the tears (which I tried so hard to hide from him) I laughed and joked with him.

I didn’t want him to see how much I was hurting anymore than he wanted me to see him hurting…

The Vet assistant was an angel. As she made that injection she made sure the last thing he heard was that “You are the best kitty ever”.

I will never forget the look of gratitude in his eyes as he glanced my direction for the very last time. He was in such pain and now it was finally over - once and for all.

That look removed all my guilt.

As soon as I got home from that visit to the vet I realized that there are many ways I could remember my best buddy.

So I worked on a poem - like a child would. A silly child like poem that would always be available to me whenever I thought of Handsome.

That poem helped me to extract the bits of joy from this painful incident.

And when I remember Handsome - I always smile and remember the joy he brought to my life - not the pain of that last day.

(Well OK I admit did shed a few tears detailing this in my blog today)

Here it is….

Unstoppable Joy! A Happier You in 12 Simpler Steps.

Unstoppable Joy! A Happier You in 12 Simple Steps.

Handsome Stranger

The greatest animal I’ve known
has passed into the great unknown

I miss my pal so awfully much
I’ve lost the one I loved to touch

The feel of his fur, the deafening purr
are memories that will endure

His friendly mew, his charming ways
would brighten up the darkest days

When I would cry, he was right there
to share the wisdom in his stare

He was so wise, so all complete
he never would admit defeat

His soul shined such a wondrous light
it kept me warm through countless nights

“No soul in cats!” that’s what folks say
but I see things another way

I say that God is in those eyes
the cat is just a great disguise

A messenger from heaven above
a teacher of the ways of Love

“You must make time for fun today”
is what your cat will always say

Sit in the sun and have a ball
I do it, even though I’m small

Take time to rest, then run and play
and cuddle up at the end of the day

Be close… heck I’ll sit in your lap
Forget about the useless crap

For life is short, with too few years
to be sad and full of fears

It’s what God wanted us to see
so She made cats for you and me

Joy and Delight

Ed Osworth
The Joy Professor

Sitting on Pins and Needles…..

Thursday, August 7th, 2008

Waiting for the arrival of the first 3000 copies of “Unstoppable Joy”.  They are on a “Yellow Freight” truck somewhere between here (Oregon) and Minnesota.

Seven years discovering and perfecting the concepts followed by three years in the writing and refining of the book.

Countless rewrites, edits, corrections, deletions, additions, delays, snafus, challenges and red eyed nights at the computer till the crack of dawn.

All 10 years culminating in a 1/2 pound of paper with a pretty cover.  Whew.

Now I know where the expression “Everyone wants to have written a book but nobody wants to actually write one” comes from :-)

It is impossible to accurately describe the feeling of apprehension and adventure that awaits. I have invested a huge chunk of my time on this planet to this project. I have perhaps neglected some “responsibilities” while in this 10 year fever that drove the creation of what is no less than my life’s dream.

Why would I invest 10 years into something like this? Something where the eventual outcome is dependent entirely on whether the masses decides they like it?

I did it for you. So that you can be happier than you were before you read it.

If I accomplish that - I am more than satisfied - I am ecstatic.

Bless

ED O
The Joy Professor

My Biography - sort of

Tuesday, August 5th, 2008

Ed Osworth is a well-known Internet entrepreneur, marketing professional, coach and author of countless articles on marketing and copywriting as well as the best-selling trade book Real Estate Secrets.

Now calling himself “The Joy Professor” Ed has gone in a brand new direction with “Unstoppable Joy - 12 Simple Steps to a Happier You.”  Abandoning the subject matter of his past writings, this groundbreaking work is about something, “way more important than any of that stuff,” says Ed.

“Anyone can be a success at selling and marketing with the proper study and application. There are hundreds of good mentors and instructors out there to choose from.  The real challenge in the year 2008 is being happy,” observes Ed. “Not just ‘contented’ happy. It fairly easy to do that”.

“Imagine being so happy it literally affects all the folks you come in contact with and the entire world around you. Being so consistently joyous with your children and family that they always love to be in your presence. Appreciating fully all the wonderful times and opportunities that life is offering you right now. Living, laughing and loving with gusto every single day. I’ll show you how to make that “dream life” a habit.”

“It is a sad fact, but I would say over 90% of the folks I see are experiencing only a tiny fraction of the joy they are capable of, no matter how successful or wealthy they may seem.”

So how did a hardened and cynical Real Estate Broker, Online Marketer and Entepreneur turn into “The Joy Professor?”

In spite of his many career successes, Ed realized something was missing from his life and the lives of most people he met. Ed had successful businesses online and offline, status, toys and admiration of his peers. But he knew there was a big hole in life, something vital that most people he knew seemed to be seeking as well.

Then, one cold and dreary Christmas Eve, Ed discovered the missing link. He was in a state of what he calls “joy dehydration”. This serious lack of Joy in everyday living was sapping away his energy, prosperity, health and life itself. Ed comments that “Just like water dehydration, Joy dehydration sneaks up on you without your knowledge. The signs are anger, frustration, hopelessness, feeling detached or victimized and even despair.”

“In my case I knew that if I didn’t satisfy that unfilled thirst for Joy - I could soon be a dead man either from health problems or depression”.

“The cure for water dehydration is as simple as drinking some water” Ed notes. “The cure for Joy dehydration is a bit more complex. The threads of its causes are woven into the tapestry of our everyday life through many different sources of programming, education, social interaction and conditioning. In Unstoppable Joy you will see how to recognize these destructive threads and put them in proper perspective, rather than strangling the Joy out of your life with them”.

Ed discovered how a combination of social programming, your inner voices and “knee jerk” automatic mental processes in our minds constantly sabotage our ability to experience the joy that is everywhere. From this knowledge Ed created what he calls “The Law of Perception” and applied it to everything he experienced.

Within a few short months Ed’s life, health, prosperity and attitude turned totally around. Inspired by this epiphany and an overwhelming desire to share this powerful force for personal growth, Ed dove into the science of joy creation with the zeal of a scientist working on a cure for cancer.

Using the techniques he shares in “Unstoppable Joy” Ed reached a state of near constant joy. Once there, he realized that joy is inherent in all of us every moment of the day. Somehow things get turned around in most of our lives and we choose to forsake this natural and healthy state of joy.

Finding your Unstoppable Joy is simply coming home to your true nature” says Ed. “Living in Joy is not some “far out” concept or goal, but actually our natural state of being! Because of this once you start using the techniques in “Unstoppable Joy” you are naturally pulled towards succeeding in freeing that Joy”.

“All Unstoppable Joy actually does is to show you a simple and straightforward path back to the joyous and loving person you really are…deep down. We show you how to bring that version of yourself to the surface” concludes Ed.

To share his discovery he called upon his old friend Jenifer Kay Hood, an award-winning writer, business coach and kindred spirit whose background in literature and education would be invaluable in structuring the material he wanted to share. Working together, Ed and Jenifer created an easy to understand and apply textbook on how anyone can live in a state of Unstoppable Joy!

Like Ed, Jenifer Kay Hood’s career leaned toward marketing, but on the communications side. She worked as a journalist, corporate communications officer and ran her own public relations agency, the Cyrano Service.

Jenifer received her Masters degree in English with an emphasis on American literature and drama and was awarded the Margaret Heaton prize for best thesis. She then did doctoral coursework at the University of British Columbia under renowned specialist Dr. Peter Quartermain.

Before her academic career, Jenifer wrote and starred in a one-woman show about the life of Edna St. Vincent Millay, which was featured on PBS. This led to being on the writing team of the Academy award nominated Ishi: The Last Yahi and Emmy-nominated Tell the Truth and Run: George Seldes and the American Press.

She also received a Best Feature award from the California Newspaper Publishers’ Association.

She is the author of Bunny and Vincent: The Love Story of Edmund Wilson and Edna St. Vincent Millay. Jenifer’s latest work, The Madness of President George, will be released in fall 2008