What You’re About to Hear is Real! Kelly Lord, an Author and Musician, offers her light to thrive, overcome, and be okay during trying times. We are strong and amazing, so let’s share love, light, and laughter with others.
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The Gift Of Love, Light, And Laughter With Kelly Lord
Kelly’s purpose is to let people know that you can go through hard things, & not only be OK but can thrive. We are stronger than we know, & sometimes we just need to be reminded of how amazing we are.
I’m Charla Anderson host of The Charla Anderson Show, collector and connector of fascinating people and everyone is fascinating, especially YOU. I’m so grateful to have you here. It’s always an honor that anyone would take the time to read this. I’m so grateful to be on WinWinWomen.tv and WinWinWomen.com, Roku, Amazon Fire, Apple TV, and all those TV streaming services now.
We’re growing. This global platform is an interactive platform. I’m very excited about that and that you would take the time to read this. We are going to be having someone exciting to talk with in this episode. I’m going to call her the laugh agent, Kelly Lord because she’s fun and incredibly talented. Before we do anything, I want to do my breathing exercise. It’s a 22-second mini-meditation that we choose to do and regroup. It grounds us.
It’s breathing calmly for 7 seconds, holding for 4 seconds, and breathing out thank you or gratitude. Would you join me with that so we can get ourselves settled, grounded, and take this mini-vacation for 22 seconds? Breathing in for calm for seven, hold, breathe out, and release. Thank you. We could all do that multiple times a day and we’d be better off because our outside world is a little bit crazy right now.
I’m going to introduce somebody named Kelly Lord. I met Kelly at Beyond Publishing. We both have books coming out with Michael Butler and Beyond Publishing. I’m super excited about that. Hers is a very special book. We’ll talk a bit about that because we’re not going to give away any of the secrets of that. However, I call her the laugh agent. She has a mission to help people realize who they are, how wonderful they are, and know that we can all go through hard things and come out on the other side, thriving, and blessing others. That’s our goal. Most of our goal in life is about making a difference for the other person.
I’m going to introduce Kelly. I want to say this because when I was talking to Michael Butler at our Beyond Publishing event, I said, “I’m talking about people that have been overcomers.” Now, we’re all overcomers, but some have big stories of overcoming and it’s worth learning from people that do that. Michael Butler said, “You need to talk to Kelly Lord.” I was like, “Okay,” so here she is. Is that the way you heard it, Kelly? Tell us who you are and a bit about what you do. How are we going to have fun in this episode?
It’s been quite a journey. I’m so excited to be here, Charla and I’m excited to get to know you as well. We met at the book launching, and my book’s going to be coming out soon. It’s called What You’re About to Hear Is Real. What makes my story different is that it’s written, but also, each section of the book has an original song that goes with it that tells it a little bit more in-depth.
I’ll say this. A synopsis of my book because I don’t want to give anything away. The opening line says, “I should be in an insane asylum, but by the grace of God, I’m here.” That’s the opening line of my book, and it’s the truth. I was raised in a very violent alcoholic family. The book takes you on a journey through my life through my eyes, the ups, the downs, the laughing, the crying, the believable, the unbelievable, and everything in between.
It’s a page-turner that makes you want to find out what happened to this little girl. Is she okay? It is a story where you root for her, you cry for her, you laugh with her, and you want to warn her. Each section, as I said, has an original song except one that was written and performed by me. Each song tells a story in a different format, which adds depth and understanding.
It’s not only a story of survival, but one of triumph. One that shows that we can go through hard things and not only be okay but thrive. It is a book of hope. There are so many people. As you said, if we take the time to get to know people, not just what they look like and what they do, but I have found so many people, almost every person I know has a story of some sort, whether or not we’re willing to share it with people.
After people read my book, it’s interesting. I’ve had two different scenarios. Some people read it throughout the night. They can’t put it down. For other people, the stuff that happened in the beginning is not easy to read and it wasn’t easy to live. What I’ve found is that people, after they’ve read it, if they’ve gone through anything like I’ve gone through, they say to me, “You understand.”
The whole purpose of my book is to let people know and most importantly, that they’re not alone. It’s because sometimes we have things that happen in our life that make us curl up in a ball. Nobody’s putting that out there for people. Everything’s like this but life has its ups and downs. When we’re in the valley, hopefully, there are people that can help us. When we’re on the high, hopefully, we’re putting our hand down to help others. The whole purpose of my book is to let you know that you can go through hard phases and not only will you be okay, but thrive. That’s my whole purpose of writing the book and now, launching the book. I’m excited about it.
I love that because as you said, every one of us has a story. There’s not a person alive that hasn’t gone through something and has a story. I’m Zig Ziglar’s legacy. Zig Ziglar would ask every single person he met, “Have you written your book yet?” I was like, back then, “No. I hadn’t thought of it.” However, it’s important to be heard and this is a theme in the second half of my adult life here.
It’s like, “I want to be heard, but I want to be heard for things I’m saying and for things that I’m not saying.” Our relationships right now are so techie shallow surface that it’s a little bit awkward in a way to get into the deep. I’m out there in the deep right off the bat, “Let me give you a hug. How can I make a difference?” I’m sure you are too.
I wake up every morning and talk to my mom, and it’s not, “Hi, Mom. How are you doing?” My poor mama, she gets on and I go right into the deep stuff. I said to her, “Mama, I’m really deep, aren’t I?” She said, “Yes, Kelly.” I’ve never said, “How’s the weather?” or anything like that. Charla, I do want to do this, and my sister Kimmy. When I was little, they had Romper Room. Do you remember Romper Room?
That was after my time.
She’d have a little wand and she’d say hello to everyone. I waited every day to hear, “Hello, Kelly.” She’d said, “Hello, Mary. Hello, Cher,” but she never once said, “Hello, Kelly.” I’m going to pretend I’ve got my little Romper Room wand, and I’m going to say, “Hello, Paula. Hello, Helen. Hello, Kimmy.” I hope that makes your day because I wish somebody had said that to me when I was sitting there waiting.
When I said you are the laugh agent, I feel whimsical. I love whimsical, a touch of whimsy. We’re all so serious or so entertained. We’re not having fun, it seems like. It’s not so much fun, but more entertainment that we’re engaged in but what if we laughed a little bit more or a lot more? We all know laughter’s the best medicine. Why do we hesitate? What is keeping us so stifled?
It’s interesting because I told you that my favorite quote was, “I can either laugh or cry, but crying gives me a headache.” That’s by Marjorie Hinckley. I love that because what I’m learning, I don’t know if it’s with age if it’s with wisdom, or if it’s being here on earth longer, that all the years that I’ve wasted being frustrated or being angry or being cool, it does no good. It does nothing. If you worry, why pray? If you pray, why worry? It’s because it does nothing but stop the energy of the moment right here and now. It doesn’t change a thing.
The way I say that to my grandkids, in fact, I left them a Marco Polo a while ago. I said, “Remember that you’re perfect exactly who and where you are. Don’t follow the crowd. Be you, and remember that nobody can hurt your feelings or make you mad without your permission.” I gave them some tools. Don’t let those things get into you and break you down. It’s a waste of time.
It’s interesting because I’d love to say that I’ve always been at this great place of knowledge, but I haven’t. There’ve been times that I’ve been so low that I didn’t know where to turn or what to do, and that’s where God comes in. If we put all of our heart, mind, soul, and listen, He’ll guide us but there were times when I would get so low and I didn’t understand.
I didn’t understand how people could do what they did. What I’ve learned is this, and this has changed my whole life. I’ll be honest with you. Before when people did things I thought, “Why would you do that?” Now, I don’t ask that. If I meet people who get under my skin or make me frustrated or make me mad, I say to myself, “Do I have that characteristic that they have right now that is irritating me?”
If I do, I say, “I don’t ever want to do that to another person because I know what it feels like.” On the other hand, when I meet amazing people and I think, “They made me feel so fantastic. Do I have that characteristic?” My favorite is this. You guys will see my talent. God gave me a musical talent. It does come from God and I’m very grateful for it but not everybody has that as their gift. When I sing or I’m on stage, people see me. Do you know what I think is one of the greatest gifts there is? However, you will never see someone do this at a talent show.
They come out and all they could do is go like this because those that listen from their heart and their soul to another person, that is the greatest gift. They’re not people out there on all the social media listening. Some are, but it’s not applauded the way it should be. For those who have that gift, that’s what I strive for because it’s not my greatest forte. I’m good when I do. As long as I get to talk first, then I’ll listen to you for hours. I’m trying to work on that.
It’s all a learning curve and I agree with you that listening from the heart, is a skill, a gift, maybe more than a skill, even. Listening from the heart is probably the highest gift we can give to anyone and I love that you pointed that out.
I say not only listening but hearing because they’re two different energies. When you’re seen and when you’re heard, that’s an energy that people have where you know that somebody heard you, took it in, and is with you. They’re not there to fix your problems or anything else and I’m a firm believer. When I was young, I wasn’t a good friend because I knew I didn’t have any answers in any way, shape, or form but I was a good listener back then. Life happens and sometimes, we morph into somebody we’re not because of situations that happened in life. I then felt like I needed to know everything and then fix everything and everyone.
Instead, now I know. They put all that energy into me because I’m the only one that I can change. I can’t change anyone else. No matter how much I want, no matter how much I pray for it, we each have the freedom to choose our lives and that’s what is so grand but we sure can be there with someone. From learning that gift of being with someone without having any answers for them. When people have done that for me, it’s such a gift because you know you’re not alone.
We can't change anyone else, no matter how much we want or pray for it. We have the freedom to choose our lives. But we sure can be there with someone without having any answers for them. Click To TweetI can feel the feeling you’re talking about. When you get into something and you’re hurt and they’re not trying to fix you, “I can fix all of your problems. Just don’t let me do mine.”
It’s always easier.
It gives me that warm feeling of even just talking about having that gift and someone who cares. It takes effort. It cares enough to pay attention. I watched people like Zig Ziglar and Tom Ziglar, people that are so intentional about a person right in front of them. I’ve got this little book called Candy Bar Hugs and it’s about paying attention to the checkout person at the Walmart or something and giving them a candy bar and a hug to pay it forward.
However, it doesn’t take much to make a difference and that’s one of the biggest ways we can possibly do. It’s just to be intent. I’ll say this. I believe in our purpose on earth. People are going, “I got to find my purpose.” What if it’s just the way you treat the person right in front of you? What if that is your purpose? How you treat someone else and you treat them with respect and unconditional love. Love is God because if God is love, he can’t not be loved. Let’s give it up and the harder people are to love, the more they need it. We need to even search those people out, the ones that are harder to love.
Don't try to be someone else. Click To TweetOne of my favorite prayers that my mom taught us when we were little is so profound because if we did this, the world would be a different place. It says, “Each thought, each word, each deed of mine, shall be an act of love divine. And everything that I shall do, shall be, my God, for the love of You.”
It gave me chills.
Again, we are striving. We try to be better than we were. At the end of each day, take a look and say, “Which characteristic did I have?” It’s not about beating ourselves up or any of that stuff. It’s saying, “What did I learn now?” I learned what I need to work on. I learned what I’m good at and I want to do more of that. If it’s okay, I would like to sing one of my songs, which goes hand-in-hand with You’re Not Alone, which is what we’re talking about. Also, that you’re seen and heard.
Be better than you were yesterday. Click To TweetI’m thrilled that you’re going to sing. I heard snippets of your voice and what a gift that is. That is a talent you can carry with you. You don’t have to carry a piano or anything to sing.
This is one of the songs from my book. It says, “Have you been there? Where all your dreams are gone. Have you been there? Where you’re trying to hang on. When nothing seems to matter and no matter how you try. Have you been there? If you’ve been there, so have I. It would be easier for me to lie than to look you straight in your eyes and tell you you’re not alone anymore. Take my hand. I am with you. Where you’ve been, what you’ve done. I don’t care. There’s a new day ahead. Your dreams and your wishes, I believe.” There’s another verse.
The good thing is we take ourselves too seriously in life. That’s the thing. I’m so grateful that I don’t take myself too seriously. I take what I do seriously. I take life seriously in terms of what we’re talking about trying to be the best person I can be but we need more laughter. My sister Kimmy’s here. She belly laughs so hard that she’s got a twelve-pack on her tummy now just from laughing. It’s phenomenal.
It’s medicine and it’s exercise. It’s breathing. Breathing is important.
When we breathe, we're breathing in the breath of life. Click To TweetAs the song says, I’ve been there once or twice. I’m not one of those people that’s like, “Rah-rah-ri.” It’s not who I am. Sometimes, I’m not all hunky dory, but I don’t stay down for long. I think of it like those plastic clowns that you punch and they go down and come back up. That’s what I am.
You are rebounding and resilient.
You hear it all the time. It doesn’t matter how many times you go down, as long as you get back up.
One time more than you go down, you’re a winner. I expected to hear Kenny. We were at this event and she had Kenny with her, this little dog. He’s a singer too.
I didn’t bring him because I was going to sing and when I sing, he’ll sing with me but now knowing that I couldn’t do that, I would’ve had him here and he would’ve sang for everybody.
Thank you for that song. I listen to the song called Brave before I did this show, “Let the words fall out,” by Sara Bareilles. I like to listen to that because I want to be brave. Let your words fall out. Let you speak your truth. This is what we’re talking about. If everybody is real or authentic, that word authenticity has got a buzzword, but I don’t want anything else. I don’t want fake. I don’t want sales pitchy. I don’t want any of that. I want real people with real voices, with real messages, or with real fun. Whatever it happens to be, just be you and be real.
I appreciate that more about you as we talked about. Since I’ve talked about mostly overcoming, you’ve got family here. When Michael Butler was like, “Talk to Kelly Lord because she’s an overcomer,” somebody else knows your story more than I do. Do you have a snippet of the cliff notes version of overcoming all of that?
My book is fabulous. It’s called What You’re About to Hear is Real. What we’re talking about is being real and it’s so real that some people who have read it, look at me because they feel like they’ve read my diary because I’m so honest in it. I said, “It’s okay. I know what you read. I wrote it.” They’re like, “How could you be so honest?” It’s always easy to see everyone else’s stuff. What I love about the book is that each section is written at that age because as a kid, you’re not asking all these deep questions, you’re like, “Why? What did I do wrong?”
“Why me? What’s wrong with me?”
That’s life in general. As you go through the book, as I said, you root for me. Other times, you’re like, “No. She didn’t.” I think what I love most about the book is that the book is about love and forgiveness. It’s about overcoming. I wrote it so that people would know you’re not alone because one of the biggest things that keeps people stuck is shame. Shame comes from feeling like you’re not a part of it and that you don’t belong. That’s the purpose of my book is that you’re not alone. Not everybody’s lived what I’ve lived and it’s okay but for those who have, as I said, they say, “You understand.”
I have the courage to put what I lived out there for people and the only reason is so that they know they’re not alone and to learn that you can still overcome. You can put your head high. The past is the past. The beginning is not yet. The future has not yet come, and it’s okay. My favorite thing is to say, “Take a step left,” at any moment. If things are getting heated or something’s happening, we can always take a step left and start this moment right here and now, right over.
You’ve got my exact message. We’ve got a choice. All we have is right now. We don’t have a last-second. We only have the next second. In that next second, you can choose to make a different choice and a different direction or change your life in one split second. That’s why my book is called Split-Second Transformation – Change Your Words, Change Your Life: 31 Daily Practices. We can change in a split second, and most people think we can’t. We think it’s hard. We have to work and go through therapy or all that but I know that I’ve changed in a split second from bitterness to joy in one moment.
We’re in the same message. We only have this second to take the next step. I call it “just be” right now and right here. Also, recognize that from the beginning of, “Let there be light,” until right this second, everything is orchestrated for us to be in this split second at this split moment and we can’t be anywhere else. Most of our lives, we’re wishing we were elsewhere or something else was going on when if we would deal with where we are right now, we got a good head start on making a difference if we want to.
I call it unique. Other people will use other words for me. First, do you know how you catch a unique bunny?
Unique upon it. It was my mother’s favorite joke. Do you know how to catch a tame one?
The tame way.
That was my mother’s favorite joke. She died in ’06 so it’s been a while.
Your mom was here. That was for your mama. No one’s ever known the answer to that until I tell them. One of my biggest things is that I’m very unique. Each one of us is unique. If each one of us truly was just who we are without putting all of the walls up and all of the trying to fit in, what a fabulous world we’d have.
One of my favorite poems that I’ve written and I don’t even think I’ve given it a name, but it says, “Where you’ve been, what you’ve done, it’s helped you be who you’ve become. Right or wrong, good or bad, it’s your life. It’s what you’ve had but He will help you to stand in your light. He will help you to make your choices right so stand in your footprints. They were made just for you. Stand in your footprints and see what you can do.”
I found a Jason Mraz song too that says, “Be where your feet are.” It’s a fun song, and that’s so true. Many people are wanting to be somewhere else and you got to love where you are. That’s all we got right now. I know you want to sing a second song. Do you want to wait a little further for that?
The music’s not going to work now.
Yeah, but we didn’t need the music. We heard the words and we heard your heart. If you can do it without the music, I’m all for it.
We can do it now.
Let’s do it now.
“You are alive. You are a guide. You helped to up on people’s lives. When you’re down and feeling low, it seems it’s so far, and lots to go. Just remember who you are. You are amazing by far. You are not alone on this journey of finding home. When you need a helping hand, some laughter, or a smile, take a look and you will see that we’ve been here all the while.”
“Remember who you are. You are amazing by far. You are not alone on this journey of finding home. That’s the way our friendship works. It’s a two-way street. Sometimes you need, and sometimes you give. In the middle, we will meet. Here’s my hand of friendship.” Give me your hand. “Reaching out to you. The same way for me you’ve reached your hand out too. Remember who you are. You are amazing by far.”
Sometimes we're harder on ourselves than we are on other people. We need to give ourselves that same love we're so willing to give others. Click To TweetYou don’t need music. I’m telling you. I was raised on acapella. I love that. It’s beautiful. It’s the one gift that if I could request to have a talent, it would be that. You can carry it in your pocket at all times. You don’t have to have a harmonica. Did you see it on Facebook? I said, “She’s got more talent.” What is it?
It was a kazoo. “I wonder if she plays one too.”
I was like, “She probably plays that too with all the instruments she plays.” Thank you so much for joining the show. You can find us every week on WinWinWomen.com and WinWinWomen.tv. I’m so humbled and grateful that you would join us and be part of this journey that we’re exploring. I’m so grateful for Kelly Lord. Thank you.
Thank you for inviting me.
Choose joy.
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I’m Charla Anderson, host of The Charla Anderson Show, Collector & Connector of Fascinating People (and EVERYONE is Fascinating!) on live TV, streaming and podcasts. As a Ziglar Legacy Certified Trainer, a retired award-winning flight attendant, Olympic Torch bearer, personal development junkie, Inspired Speaker, Published Author and Your Courageous Coach, I want to share my passion of living life full-out, saying YES to intriguing opportunities, and encouraging YOU to do the same. Let’s jump on a discovery call and get to know each other. Find all things Charla at CharlaAnderson.com/links.
On The Charla Anderson Show, We discuss Mindset, How much Your WORDS matter, Princess to Queen energy, mantras, HOPE, Faith, Miracles, Overcoming, and much, much more, including learning from amazing guests.
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About Kelly Lord
Not only am I an author but I am a musician with a story to tell. I sing, write music, and play guitar. I went to college on a full scholarship for classical flute.I have traveled all over the country and performed for small venues to over 5000, as well as on television.
My purpose and the purpose of my book is to let people know you can go through really hard things and not only be ok but absolutely thrive. We are stronger than we know, sometimes we just need someone to remind us how amazing we are with a little Love, Light and Laughter!
