Blog / Inspiration and Positivity

LINSANITY!!!!!

Published: 25 Feb 2012 by Lenny | Comments: 1

To Linfinity and beyond! 

(Ok ok...I will spare you guys. I think we've heard enough of all the 'Lin' play on words)

For those who didn't know, basketball is a huge hobby of mine and there's no way I could lie to you guys...I caught the Linsanity bug. But what do I really think about Jeremy Lin?

Ok, if you don't know who Jeremy Lin is or you're wondering why you keep hearing all these play on words like 'LINSANITY', 'all he does is LIN LIN LIN', or 'FOR THE LIN', then let me give you a very quick summary.
Jeremy Lin is an Asian American basketball player of Taiwanese or Chinese descent, a Harvard University graduate who VERY quickly rose to stardom in the NBA. There are a couple of reasons for this sudden hype: 

• One - he is the very first American-born player of Taiwanese or Chinese descent.
  Ok I will be completely honest...he is getting alot of hype for the simple fact that he's asian. Period. If an African-American player made the same stats as he has been getting, it would just be a normal thing. Black players do what he does every night but not many are singing praise for those guys. It's unfortunate but part of the hype is because of race. 
• Two - he unexpectedly led the New York Knicks to a winning streak and was promoted to the starting line up.
  What Jeremy has done on the basketball court and how the New York Knicks have benefited from him is the true story here. This is what's most important. Not many people know, but Jeremy started at Golden State Warriors (his hometown), then moved onto the Houston Rockets before the New York Knicks picked him up because they simply needed to replace their injured players. He was competing for only a backup spot and even considered himself the 12th to 15th guy on the roster (that's pretty bad considering there's only 5 players on the court from one team). 
  The beautiful thing is...Jeremy was given an opportunity and he took it with both hands and look at where he is now. Don't get me wrong he didn't get to this point without hardwork. If you check him up, he has gone through ALOT to get to this point and he will continue to face problems. Like right now, there's a huge thing about the media commenting on his race. 

To me, Jeremy isn't a flashy player. There's nothing fancy about him. He's not a LeBron James, Dwayne Wade or a Kobe Bryant. He gets the job done on the court. He played amazing and very inspiring basketball in the Knicks winning streak but after a few losses and turning over the ball alot, people are starting to be very critical of him. I've been seeing headlines like "Lin fails to lift Knicks", "Lin and Knicks overwhelmed by the Heat", "Heat gives Lin, Knicks a reality check". Cut the guy some slack! I'm sure he's not the only player on the Knicks. What about Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire? Did they play well? Well....no they didn't and the Miami Heat's big 3 Wade, Bosh and James were just too good. To be honest, they are in another league at the moment in the whole competition.    

Ok I can talk FOREVER about basketball but what I'm trying to say is, Jeremy is a prime example of hardwork, focus and passion for the game. If you genuinely love what you do, you will excel in it and that's that! Hopefully Jeremy can become a 10 year NBA player. I will leave you guys of a clip of Jeremy Lin's Highlight for those who have no idea what I'm ranting about and also for the basketball fans who wanna appreciate some good basketball =P

Talk soon guys!

ps LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU GUYS THINK OF JEREMY LIN. I am very interested to know =)

Lenny (aka Frog)  

Australian Open Tennis Finals!

Published: 31 Jan 2012 by Jeff | Comments: 1

The finals for the Australian Open was on the other night. It was an epic display of skill and endurance, and the men's finals in particular was both impressive and inspiring. Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal made history with their match being the longest grand slam singles title final at 5 hours 53 minutes. Towards the end of the match, both players were visibly exhausted, and understandably so. Nevertheless, they both pushed on and there was no shortage of spectacular points, rallies and winners! Their mental strength really overcame their physical state and it was a close match all the way up to the very end. Even though it was late into the night by the time the game finished, it was so inspiring to watch that I felt like going out for a game of tennis myself!

The amount of mental focus and endurance that athletes have is something to be looked up to. Imagine if everyone had that amount of discipline and motivation applied to their lives. The world would have much stronger communities and everyone would advance much more quickly. Even though many people would not have the same adrenalin pumping experience of competing on the world stage, this really isn't where most of the abilities develop. It is the training and practice you put in each and every day that is consistent, which really lets you shine when it counts.

I think it is important that no matter what you do, or are trying to accomplish, the hard work must come in first before you can guarantee a good performance and return. Too often people wish they can just sit around and do nothing, and have the same results as someone highly successful. Unfortunately that isn't how it works. But if an honest effort has been put in, it is almost certain that you will receive a better outcome than if you didn't. A lot can be learned from watching a game like this one.

Now I'm itching to have a hit of tennis myself! But there is work to be done first! Gotta work hard and then play hard!

http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=1993

EOM reaches Philippines

Published: 26 Dec 2011 by Lenny | Comments: 1

We knew magic was an universal Art but it still amazes us how far it can reach.  The three of us are still pinching ourselves because we cannot fathom how what we record in our little house could reach a little church in Manila in the Philippines. 

Here in the photo we have Rodolfo performing a trick we taught. He is one of our subscribers who teaches young kids magic. We want to congratulate him in being able to give such a beautiful gift to these children. This is what magic is all about. We just want to share this with you to show you magic is not just a hobby. It is a wonderful gift that can change lives. Well done Rodolfo, we are so proud of you for what you are doing. EOM will support you every step of the way =)

Vinh, Jeff and Lenny
EOM

What’s your fuel?

Published: 14 Dec 2011 by Encyclopedia of Magic | Comments: 3

We know that the driving force behind achievement is inspiration and motivation. We often require examples to set us in the right direction, but the beauty of it is that one good example can be very long lasting and take you a long way. There are so many good examples that we can draw on to keep us going when the going gets tough. And last night we received an email from a subscriber who shared with us a very touching story.....it was the story of his life which seriously touched us and inspired us.

We cannot share who he is for obvious reasons but we can say that he has been through too much for his age which is very tragic. FORTUNATELY, this person isn't an ordinary human being. Being the strong-willed person that he is, he has pulled through and is in fact living life 'on the greener side'. We just wanted to leave you guys with something he shared with us:

"You have played a special role in my life in the discovery of one of my true loves, magic…You have thought me self-confidence, and the value of bringing joy to others…"

"...no matter how hard things may be, no matter how pressured you may be, that things always get better, love, magic, hope and diligence/determination was all it took for me to be the best I ever was…remember everything always happens for a reason.  I guess my happy ending has now begun, and I hope and pray that it will only be happiness from now on; I know it’s impossible but we must try our best to make the most out of what we have."

Although he says that we have inspired him, we feel that he has inspired us at EOM even more so! So we just wanted to thank this particular person.

We hope everyone sees how important it is to have people, or something or stories that fuels us each and every day. That's why we have included a section in our Forums on Self Development. Please go ahead and make a post regarding what makes you wake up each and every morning to face the day. This is a great place to feed your mind with positivity and let you reach beyond what you initially thought was possible! So make this the place where you share what makes you go the extra mile! Sometimes writing it down cements your motivation in your mind.

At EOM, we can honestly say that you guys are a HUGE source of fuel for us each and everyday!

Lenny
EOM

Image: Marcus74id / FreeDigitalPhotos.net