Monday Morning Motivator: MONDAYS ARE FOR SINGING...

MONDAYS ARE FOR SINGING...

"You've got to have a song," I said in one of my Lifedesigns workshops. “What?!” a woman said, “A thong?” “A thong is good, too.” I said. "But actually, what you need is...a song.”

It's true. Nobody doesn't need a song. You know, the song that just does it for you? The one you sing at full throttle in the shower when you think nobody’s listening? Actually, I remember when our younger daughter, Abigail, was about 5 years old, I heard her in the shower singing at the top of her lungs. I peeked in and there she was without a stitch on, holding an umbrella over her head and belting out, “I’m singin’ in the rain…just singin’ in the rain…what a glorious feelin’…I’m happy again…” I’m happy just thinking about that wonderful moment. (I bet Gene Kelly would’ve loved it, too...)

Hey, no band of brothers or sisters ever went into battle without the fifes, the drums, the horns, the pipes…the raised voices going first. It takes a song. A song can remind you of who you are, what you’re made of, what you care about, what you stand for…what you’re doing here.

A song – your song – can give you that extra bit of fizz, that lift, that winning attitude that shouts, “You want to know what good looks like? This is it!” If you sing it.

The late Joe Raposo, was a very dear friend and the brilliant composer of over a thousand songs (most of them for Sesame Street) that warmed the hearts of little children and grownups alike for decades - sung by everyone from Frank Sinatra to Gladys Knight and the Pips, from Patti Labelle to Ray Charles, from Barbra Streisand to Kermit the Frog. Among my favorites are, “It’s Not Easy Bein’ Green," “You WIll be My Music,” and “There Used to be a Ball Park." But maybe the one I love best is “Sing.” The lyrics - and the melody - never fail to touch my heart. You remember...

“Sing, sing a song...Sing out loud, sing out strong. Sing of good things, not bad...sing of happy not sad. Sing, sing a song...make it last your whole life long. Don’t worry that it’s not good enough for anyone else to hear...just sing, sing a song...”

Yes, sing a song! I’ve got a song – one that always does it for me. One that reminds me of my best stuff (not the “other” stuff) one that reminds me of the time I knocked it out of the park (not the time I struck out...) the one that, no matter how far behind I’m running, will get me there – without fail. I sing it whenever I’m out for something big, something that means a stretch, something that would thrill me, something that wipes out the “What if this is the time I mess up?” question and replaces it with “How drop dead good could I make it?”

Here’s an example: A few years ago I was walking down Third Avenue in NYC to meet the editor in chief of a publishing company to pitch a book. It was only a 15-minute walk, but I was getting more uptight with every block. This was a top notch publisher and I really wanted them to buy my book. I mean, I knew I liked them, but would this editor like me? Maybe she would think the book was too personal. Maybe she would find my humor too much…or my style too, uh, flamboyant. I was driving myself crazy.

Finally, when I was only about five minutes away I said out loud, “Hey Gail, don’t act like a jerk. Why don’t you sing your song?” So I did. It’s from Funny Girl, it’s “I’m the Greatest Star” (“I am by far, but no one knows it…”) and the killer line that does it for me every time is, “Lookin’ down you’ll never see me; try the sky ‘cause that’ll be me…I can make ‘em sigh, I can make ‘em cry; someday they’ll clamor for my glamour...in all of the world so far, I am the greatest, greatest star!” I sang out loud. I sang out strong. I didn’t care who heard me or if they thought I was “good.” Okay, I’m no Streisand…but I just sang it.

By the time I walked into the editor’s office I was flying. About twenty minutes into the meeting she said, “You know what, Gail? We really want to buy your book. We love your energy!”

Listen, it turns out that this is exactly the right moment for you to step into the limelight.. to be there, to get back in the game, to knock ‘em dead, to get a kick out of yourself...and to be totally unforgettable.

So find your song, will you? And sing it. Because Mondays are for singing...

And for a little boost, click here…http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhbsb_tkGL0

Or here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fmrmgflh6yA

For power song ideas, click here…http://www.throwoutfiftythings.com/profiles/blogs/what-is-your-powe...