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Spread the word of positivity - You never know who needs it

Jamie O'Keeffe • June 13, 2024

I wrote the following article almost 6 years ago to the day, after the passing of one of my idols, Anthony Bourdain. Seemingly, more relevant than ever, here's a reminder to spread positivity wherever you can.


 - Jamie O'Keeffe

Image tweeted by @bourdain

I was very saddened to hear of the passing of Anthony Bourdain last week. I was a massive fan of his work and thoroughly enjoyed looking through his lens on the world of food and travel via his books and numerous shows. His 'straight up and down' approach showed no sign of pretentiousness and he was very relatable to everyone.


Anthony was living the life that some people dream of. Travelling around the world enjoying all the sight, sounds and tastes it has to offer. It looked like a permanent holiday but behind the curtain was a man chasing happiness which last week he decided he could not find here.


His loss, in some ways, has affected me even more than my fathers recent passing. Now don't read that the wrong way. My father, who was a great man and the number 1 influence on my life, had been fighting ill health for 18 months. This has been a rollercoaster of emotions yet we had time to prepare. Anthony who I didn't know personally was also an influence on my life through his journey and this was unexpected. There is the word we need to use more frequently and know that we all influence people around us either positively or negatively. In order for us to create a better world we need ensure we are purely influencing 'positively'.

Several years ago, I was very fortunate to be at a conference in the US which had renown brain disorder specialist Dr Daniel Amen as a guest speaker. Dr Amen is the Director of the Amen Clinics as well as being a New York Times best selling author of 'Change your Brain, Change Your Life'. Dr Amen was a fascinating presenter with his insights on how our brain is wired (and can be rewired). He also spoke of how 'Automatic Negative Thoughts' or ANTS as he put it, are in our brain to protect but sometimes can have a greater, and possibly negative, impact on our well being. I found this very interesting as it does highlight the fact that we do have voices in our heads to both encourage and 'protect'. He finished off his speech with a quote that I love "Don't believe everything you hear. Even in your own head"


We all have these voices and the problem is those that then use their own negative thoughts on others to protect their own situation can severely impact on the well being of others. We do not wear signs indicating which voice in our head is currently winning so we will never understand the power of someones elses words 'good' or 'bad'. So with this in mind, we need to purely use 'positivity' to influence those around us. Think about the times when someone has spoken positive about you or showed you the value in yourself that you may not have seen. Its infectious!


We can't afford to lose great people and we are ALL great people so as my Mum would say 'If you have nothing nice to say......"


And for you Mr Bourdain, everytime I'm at an Italian Restaurant eating Cacio e Pepe or holidaying in Bali and lunching on Babi Guling I will be thinking of you and saying thank you for your positive influence on my life.


A man in a blue suit and white shirt with his arms crossed

JAMIE O'KEEFFE, WORKTRYBE RECRUITMENT MARKETING MANAGER


Jamie O’Keeffe is WorkTrybe’s Recruitment Marketing Manager who has over 25 years experience in the media world having worked with highly recognised local, national and international media brands. 

WorkTrybe’s Recruitment Marketing division specialise in content creation, video production, editing, social media marketing.


Speak to Jamie today at Jamie.o’keeffe@worktrybe.com to arrange a coffee intro and find out how WorkTrybe can partner with you to make your Careers Page come ‘alive’.

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