There are quite a few books I have listened to over the last five months that I want to talk about eventually, but this one is fresh in my mind. It was just released a week ago and it’s a memoir written by Matthew McConaughey about his life so far at age 50 and what he calls Greenlights. Events that move you forward, open things up, speak to your heart, inspire growth.
Listening to his words, spoken by the man himself, brought back memories of when my path crossed with Matthew in some pretty minor ways. Still, as he shared stories from his life it made me think about mine, past, present, and future.
Toward the end of high school I went with a bunch of buddies to an audition for Dazed and Confused, Matthew’s first big break in a movie. My hair was really short and I was pretty shy. It was really just something fun to do. None of us got picked.
Some years later I worked for a wedding photographer as an assistant and Matthew was at a wedding we were working. He got pretty drunk by the end and was just dancing up a storm like a wild animal let loose. The photographer tried not to be obvious but managed to get some good shots of him.
Hearing about his experiences, challenges, adventures, general attitude, and optimism about life, really gave me some food for thought. Quite a few times in the book he gets these signs about what to do next and he follows them until he finds and learns the lessons waiting to be discovered. He traveled to the amazon river seeking answers and another time to a very remote part of Africa to find one man. McConaughey didn’t hesitate to take risks and ended up with some pretty epic tales to tell. He seems to unflinchingly take on life with positivity and grounded wisdom and ease.
I finished the book wondering how I can pay more attention to and follow my own greenlights. How could I be more adventurous and follow the signs to my own breakthrough moments? How do you let go of fear and live your life like the gift it is, without the hindrance of a slew of self-imposed limits and out of date stories? Thanks Matthew for sharing a look behind the curtain.
“The older you get, the more rules they are going to try and get you to follow. You just gotta keep on livin’, man. L-I-V-I-N. ”
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