“Be smarter than you are famous” – Merv Griffin

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Today’s Blog Post

“Be smarter than you are famous” – Merv Griffin

Merv Griffin said, “Be smarter than you are famous”.

In 2010 – “So who was Merv Griffin?”

Wikipedia states the following…Quote
“Mervyn Edward "Merv" Griffin, Jr. (July 6, 1925 – August 12, 2007) was an American television host, singer, and media mogul.[2] He began his career as a radio and big band singer who went on to appear in movies and on Broadway. During the 1960s, Griffin hosted his own talk show, The Merv Griffin Show, and created the game shows Jeopardy!, Wheel of Fortune, Click, and Merv Griffin's Crosswords. He is considered an entertainment business magnate.” End quote

He died in 2007 and in 2010 very few younger people will know the name – let alone all that he did. Yet he was one of the most wealthy people of his time. The things he created and the things he was involved in are still growing and going on.

This month the TV programs “Jeopardy” and “Wheel of Fortune” started their 27th and 28th year of Broadcasting. When you think of all the other programs that have come and gone in 28 years – this is amazing!

Both of these were a brainchild of Merv Griffin!

Yet in 2010 – few of the emerging generation remember him or know much about the character.

When he stated the obvious, “Be smarter than you are famous” he was right on… and away ahead of his time.

In 2010 the common practice and the thing that most people want deeply is their 15 Minutes of Fame… just 15 minutes would be great! Even 5 minutes would be nice… of how about a simple wave to a TV Camera as a TV News Reporter is out on the street? Would that do? – you betcha!

This past week, Pastor Terry Jones made it big time as he almost carried through his threat to burn the copy of the Koran(Qur’an). In fact with his stunt he almost launched a world crisis and put many, many people at risk… people that would be murdered just because they were American or Canadian in another part of the World. The radical Islamic factions had threatened to defend their Holy Book and the likelihood of western people being killed was real.

Pastor Terry certainly got his 15 minutes plus some!

But applying Merv Griffin’s practical advice was not something he did. He was not smarter than he was famous.

I would have loved to be in the town or city where he shops for groceries this next week. His 15 minutes of fame will likely ruin his life and whatever ministry he had. The guy is a Gonner, a Loser, and a Freak to the rest of the world!

Maybe what needed to happen is that you really need to be smarter before you are famous!

Fame will leave you and vanish with the next fad – or famous person. Once the new person appears you will be caught in a ‘no zone’ area where you will not be known any longer.

To test this out I asked a person, that works in an important place in our community, if they knew my friend who once had an important job in that important place. The person that I was asking looked at me blankly and responded, “No I never heard of that person… how long did they work there? I have been there 5 years and can’t remember the name.”

I won’t tell you the place or the person because they are still important in their own mind. But in the world they were once important in – they are no even known! They once had years of fame – not just 15 minutes. Now they are not even known!

Yikes! Every Retiree has that feeling as I am discovering. I have polled a number of my friends on this topic. One suggested that it took a few years to let the feeling of being infamous become the new norm… they were now a nobody in a somebody world.

Today I am meeting a new group of Students that have entered our newly, reopened Bible College… the New Masters College and Seminary which has been brought back to Peterborough.

These are excited and amazing young adults that are about to become famous as graduate ministers in their small worlds. They will leave the college and become important in their worlds. WOW!

I am filled with many emotions today as I will attend the meeting this morning. I almost don’t want to go.

A few years back I openly questioned the stupidity of the move of the College from Peterborough. I became “famous” in my small world for not being a “team player” and not being onside the leadership as they made these dumb decisions to vacate the premises that they once had built. It just didn’t make any sense.

Now they have come back to the city again. WOW!

A person asked me how I felt about it… and I just stared blankly at the guy and said nothing.

I became famous a few years ago for saying too much. I was branded as a nut case that opposed leadership. But in fact my fame was the 15 minute kind… short lived.

Now I am dealing with lots of feelings that are hard to sort through. I am a sideliner that once was. And I know too much.

How do you deal with this kind of thing? I am learning and have few answers at this point in time.

Maybe you have the answer for me. Huh? How about it? Any advice? I would love to hear it!

I know I need to be smarter than I am famous – for sure!

~ Murray Lincoln ~
http://www.murraylincoln.com/

Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merv_Griffin