Thursday, March 01, 2007

Ideas, Moments, and the Next American Idol

By Nichole Giles

I’ve never been a fan of American Idol. I don’t usually watch much T.V., but when your children have it on, excited to see their favorite singers, you can’t help but look. So I looked. Then I kept looking, and before I knew it, I was sitting on the couch next to the kids predicting who was going to be eliminated and who would make it to the next round.

Then I got thinking. Not long ago, these contestants were waitresses, auto mechanics, and students, who sometimes sounded good when they sang in the shower. They might have stayed that way, only sharing their talents with the soap and shampoo, except that one day, someone thought, Hey, wouldn’t it be a good idea to hold a T.V. contest to find the one person in America who sings better than everyone else?

And a few years later, a whole lot of nobody’s became overnight sensations. Now, that waitress is almost a household name. The lives of those people are forever changed by someone’s good idea.

It is amazing to me that one person’s idea could affect so many people—from the rejects to the stars. All these thoughts of ideas that influence people with life changing consequences made me think back to some of the things that have affected my own personality, even my own life. Surely, there have been many. But that is not the point.

The point is, whether we realize it or not, sometime in our life each of us has the opportunity to change someone else’s life, one way or another. And it doesn’t usually take a really big-deal-national-phenomenon-great idea. It could be a passing thought, a silly quip, or a profound sentence. You just never know when or where that life-altering moment will happen to you, or conversely, when you will create that moment for someone else.

Now, you are probably thinking, “Okay, nice thoughts and all, but what’s your point?”

The way I see it, you only have one chance to live today. Today is the best day to come up with a brilliant idea. And if that idea isn’t the one that will change a life, maybe tomorrow’s good idea will. Or the idea after that. You just never know. It might be ten or twenty years or more before you run into the person who remembers you as the person who set the example, made the statement, or wrote the words, that made a difference. So take your idea and run with it.

And who knows, maybe someday YOU can be the next American Idol.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

When I was 18 I dyed my hair almost weekly, shaved and waxed everything that could possibly sprout hair and wore eyeliner, mascara, lipstick and never ever felt pretty. Then one day a teacher was late for class in college and I was sitting on the steps next to this girl, Crystal I think her name was, a girl I never would have talked to because she was just so different from me. For lack of conversation, and because it was true too, I mentioned how beautiful her hair was. She said to me, Yeah, it got so healthy once I started only washing it once a week. And as strange as it may sound, that totally changed my life. I realized that this beautiful girl was beautiful because she was so natural and not because she beat herself up over it. And even today I am just naturally me (although I still do enjoy the occasional hair dye but for me now not for anyone else) I am happier and way more attractive than when I was too done. 16 years I've carried that life changing moment.

I don't know if that was exactly off topic but I thought about how something so small can totally change the course of someone's life. And that I bet she doesn't even know how altered I was by that moment.

Nichole Giles said...

muzakbox,
Yes, that is exactly the kind of thing I'm talking about. Thank you for sharing your experience. Those are the little moments that makes people great.

Nichole

Cindy Beck, author said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Cindy Beck, author said...

"Ok, maybe sooner or later I can get this to work out right," she said, fifteen deleted comments later!:-)

I wrote a comment and didn't post it, wrote a comment and deleted it. This one is here to stay.

Good job on this, Nichole. The world needs more positive, uplifting, life-changing moments. And more writers, singers, actors and decent people to inspire us.

Thank goodness you're one of them!

Tristi Pinkston said...

I don't care if I don't ever become the next American Idol -- I want to be the next Dean Hughes!! :)

Nichole Giles said...

Thanks, c.l.

What a nice thing to say. You're a good friend.

Nichole

Nichole Giles said...

I am with Tristi. Dean Hughes it is!

Thanks for commenting.

Nichole