“Relax And Dream Up A Good Life” – Jim Carrey’s View On The Meaning Of Life
I believe, as many others do, that we’re in the midst of an awakening, a shift in global consciousness. A part of this awakening is evident in many celebrities who are beginning to use their fame and influence to serve humanity. Actor Jim Carrey, arguably one of the greatest comedians ever, is one of them…
Carrey provided the inspiring, funny, and enlightening commencement speech for the Maharishi School of Management class of 2014. It’s likely you’ve seen it shared around social media in the last year or two…but at nearly 30 minutes long, and the average person’s attention span being about 3 to 4 minutes, it’s also likely you didn’t make it all the way through the video.
…And that would be a shame, because in his speech, Jim makes some deeply profound statements about what he’s come to find as the meaning and purpose of life. Carrey encouraged the students to think big and to choose love rather than give into fear. Many said it was the best commencement address they’d seen.
But recently, as I was browsing aimlessly through YouTube, I found this shortened version, condensing the highlights of his speech into about 4 minutes:
Here are the parts of Jim’s speech in the condensed video above:
I watched the affect my father’s love and humor and how it altered the world around me, and I thought, “That’s something to do, that’s something worth my time.”
When I was about 28, after a decade as a professional comedian, I realized one night in LA that the purpose of my life had always been to free people from concern, just like my dad.
I did something that makes people present their best selves to me wherever I go.
How will you serve the world? What do they need that your talent can provide? That’s all you have to figure out. I can tell you from experience, the effect you have on others is the most valuable currency there is.
Because ultimately, we’re not the avatars we create. We’re not the pictures on the film stock. We are the light that shines through it. All else is just smoke and mirrors. Distracting, but not truly compelling.
That peace that we’re after, lies somewhere beyond personality, beyond the perception of others, beyond invention and disguise, even beyond effort itself. You can join the game, fight the wars, play with form all you want, but to find real peace, you have to let the armor fall. 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.
I’ve often said that I wished people could realize all their dreams of wealth and fame so they could see that it’s not where you’ll find your sense of completion. Like many of you, I was concerned about going out in the world and doing something bigger than myself, until someone smarter than myself made me realize that there is nothing bigger than myself!
Our eyes are not only viewers, but also projectors that are running a second story over the picture we see in front of us all the time. Fear is writing that script and the working title is, ‘I’ll never be enough.’
And when I say, “life doesn’t happen to you, it happens for you.” I really don’t know if that’s true. I’m just making a conscious choice to perceive challenges as something beneficial so that I can deal with them in the most productive way. You’ll come up with your own style, that’s part of the fun!
Life doesn’t happen to you, it happens for you.
You will only ever have two choices: love or fear. Choose love, and don’t ever let fear turn you against your playful heart. All that will be left of you is what was in your heart.
My soul is not contained within the limits of my body, my body is contained within the limitless of my soul.
You can fail at what you don’t want, so you might as well take a chance on doing what you love.
Relax and dream up a good life!
You can spend your whole life imagining ghosts, worrying about the pathway to the future, but all there will ever be is what’s happening here. And the decisions we make in this moment, which are based in either love or fear. So many of us choose 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.
See the full video and transcript of Carrey’s speech here at Maharishi University of Management’s website.
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