Jim Carrey Inspiration – Fear Disguised as Practicality

Jim Carrey - Fear Disguised As Practicality quote inspiration

Jim Carrey - Fear Disguised As Practicality quote inspirationJim Carrey is an incredible human being who has overcome some really hard times early on in his life to become a Golden Globe-winning actor and revered comedian. His life serves as an inspiration to those who are looking for it, no matter where they are in life.

He was homeless at 12 years old

As a pre-teen, Carrey and his family lived in a car after his father lost his job and his mother couldn’t work due to her suffering from mental illness.

He quit school and worked as a janitor

To support his family, he decided to ditch school and do what he could to help them financially by getting a job as a janitor.

He got booed off stage at his first gig

As a teenager, Carrey managed to land a gig at a comedy club in Toronto, where his material completely bombed and he was booed off the stage.

He lived in a closet

After getting his big break and moving to LA to further pursue his dreams, all he could afford was a tiny room that was originally a closet.

“I lived in a closet when I first came to L.A. I met somebody at the Improv who said they had a room, and it turned out to be a closet,” he said during the Television Critics Association (TCA) Winter Press Tour. “So for the first year or so I was here, I lived in that closet. I woke up the very first morning that I lived in the house to walk out in the kitchen and find a beautiful young girl making bacon with no pants on. And I went, ‘Wow.’”

 

Be inspired (and entertained) from his full commencement speech at the 2014 MUM Graduation

Hear it from himself. There are so many quotable moments in Carrey’s speech, and we highly recommend you watch it whenever you feel uninspired, stuck, or just need a good laugh.

So many of us chose our path out of fear disguised as practicality. What we really want seems impossibly out of reach and ridiculous to expect so we never dare to ask the universe for it. I’m saying: I’m the proof that you can ask the universe for it.

 

My father could have been a great comedian but he didn’t believe that was possible for him. So he made a conservative choice. Instead, he got a safe job as an accountant and when I was 12 years old, he was let go from that safe job and our family had to do whatever we could to survive.

 

I learned many great lessons from my father. Not the least of which was that you can fail at what you don’t want, so you might as well take a chance on doing what you love.

 

How will you serve the world? What do they need that your talent can provide? That’s all you have to figure out. As someone who has done what you are about to go and do, I can tell you from experience, the effect you have on others is the most valuable currency there is.

 

Because everything you gain in life will rot and fall apart, and all that will be left of you is what was in your heart. 

 

Your need for acceptance can make you invisible in this world. Don’t let anything stand in the way of the light that shines through this form. Risk being seen in all of your glory.

 

Your job is not to figure out how it’s going to happen for you, but to open the door in your head and when the door opens in real life, just walk through it. And don’t worry if you miss your cue because there’s always doors opening. 

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