Welcome to Judi Moreo’s monthly e-zine, developed specifically for people who want to be the best they can be and enjoy much success in their lives! Please feel free to forward this to associates, friends, and family!
Dear
,
Thirty-nine years ago, my speaking career officially began when I was hired by the Montgomery Ward Department Store to be Wendy Ward, the spokesperson and fashion coordinator for the store. I loved that job as it presented many opportunities for me to speak to young people in all grades of school from elementary through university. One of the best stories I was encouraged to share was the real story of “Rudolph.” Since holiday time is upon us, I am including the story here. It is my hope that you enjoy finding out how Santa really discovered this incredible reindeer.
Have a wonderful holiday season.
Remember, you are more than enough!
Judi
The Real Story of Rudolph, The Red Nosed Reindeer
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Even though most people believe that Rudolph is a folklore legend, it simply is not true. Rudolph was born in 1939 in the Montgomery Ward Department store in Chicago, Illinois.
 The holiday season was a time when Santa would give away coloring books to the children who came to tell him their Christmas wishes. The management staff thought perhaps if they created their own giveaway booklet, they wouldn’t have to buy the coloring books and they could save money. So the project of a Christmas give away was assigned to one of their advertising copywriters, Robert May, who was very good at writing children’s stories and limericks.
Mr. May had an idea of an illustrated poem printed in a small book that families would want to keep and read to their children each year. He came up with the idea of a reindeer with a shiny nose who would be Santa’s helper. He wrote a series of rhyming verses and tried them out on his four year old daughter.
He then enlisted his artist friend, Denver Gillen, to draw him a reindeer. Mr. Gillen spent many hours at the local zoo creating sketches of reindeer. Together they completed the booklet and during Christmas of 1939, 2.4 million copies of the story of “Rudolph” were given away in the Montgomery Ward stores throughout the United States.
In this story, Rudolph did not live at the North Pole. Rudolph lived in an “average” reindeer village and while he was often taunted and laughed at for having a red nose, his parents didn’t regard him as an “embarrassment.” Rudolph was brought up in a loving home and he was a responsible reindeer with a good self-image and sense of worth. Santa discovered Rudolph when he noticed the glow coming from Rudolph’s room while delivering presents to Rudolph’s house. Worried that the thickening fog would keep him from completing his Christmas Eve rounds, Santa asked Rudolph to lead his team.
The booklet was a big hit.
The acceptance of Rudolph as Santa’s helper created a need to license the character. As Mr. May had created the story during his employment at Montgomery Ward, the company held the copyright. Mr. May was deeply in debt from the terminal illness and loss of his wife, so he persuaded Montgomery Ward’s corporate president, Sewell Avery, to turn Rudolph’s copyright over to him.
“Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” became a commercial entity before Christmas of 1947 and in the following year, a nine-minute cartoon was created and shown in theatres.
Mr. May talked his brother-in-law, Johnny Marks, who was a popular song writer into writing lyrics and a melody for a song about Rudolph. Several professional singers turned down the opportunity to record the song. Then in 1949, Gene Autry consented to do the recording, which quickly went to the top of the charts of the Hit Parade.
Since that time, approximately three hundred different recordings of the song have been made, one hundred million copies sold and Rudolph’s career continues. In 1964, he became the star of a TV special narrated by Burl Ives, which is still a holiday favorite today.
Robert May died in 1976, and left the legend of Rudolph in all of our hearts. 
The old year is drawing to a close and we look toward a new year bright with promise. All too often, we allow ourselves to be caught up it the flurry of holiday events that happen during the last few weeks of the year. Company parties, decorating the house, shopping for gifts, mailing cards, second guessing how much we spent or should have spent added to the normal routines of working and living can create an atmosphere of stress and frustration.
Without even realizing it, most of us expect a great deal of ourselves during the holidays. We somehow expect that we will be able to squeeze in all of the extras that come our way. We expect the house to be perfect. We expect everything to go smoothly. We push ourselves to be everything we think everyone else expects us to be. And we are usually disappointed. We let ourselves down by not meeting our own standards, much less the standards we think others have set. Never mind that the expectations were totally unrealistic to begin with. That little fact rarely enters the discussion when we are beating ourselves up for not accomplishing all of the tasks we set ourselves to do. We somehow find the disappointment to be all too familiar and normal. It is easy to fall into the trap of setting aside our need for time to just be still. It becomes easier to give up and “do the best we can.”
So how do we avoid the disappointment and frustration of not getting it all done exactly the way it should be? We are taught that we must expect much in order to receive much. What is usually left unsaid is that while we must expect in order to receive, we must also be aware of our actions. We will never reach the top of the mountain unless we first put on our hiking boots, no matter how much we visualize or expect to get there. The first step in fulfilling our expectations is to define them. Do we really want to climb that mountain, or is just getting out in the fresh air and getting some exercise what we really want? We can save ourselves a lot of disappointment and seeming failure by knowing what the goal is to begin with.
Once we are clear about our expectations, we can begin to focus on what it will take to have, be or do whatever we have decided. If being able to climb the mountain is what we really expect of ourselves, perhaps the first step we must take is to buy a pair of proper hiking shoes, then start with small walks, building our stamina until we can make it all the way to the top. Will we get there if we don’t expect that we can? Probably not. We would find other things to do that would keep us from taking the first step.
Setting reasonable expectations will help keep us from being frustrated with life and ourselves as well. If all we want is the healthy benefits of exercise and not to plant a flag at the top of the mountain, we can keep from being disappointed by setting the right expectations for ourselves to begin with. If we expect problems, we will usually get them. If we expect that we can find a solution to every problem, we may still have problems, but we will be able to find our way out because we are looking past the problem to the solution. If we expect difficulties, we can usually find them. If instead we expect that we will become stronger with each difficulty we overcome, we find ourselves more capable, more competent every day. When we set our expectations, we begin to look for those things in our lives. When we look with intention, we usually find that for which we are searching.
This year, instead of feeling let down, take time to ask yourself, “What do I truly expect?” Know that you will reap the rewards of your actions – or suffer the consequences of your inaction. Denis Waitley says, “Expect the best, plan for the worst and prepare to be surprised.” This year, take time to dream, make time to plan, and remember to breathe and enjoy the holidays.
Mind Workout: Tell Stories |
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What It Is
A method used to encourage participants to look at old issues in new ways.
What You’ll Need
A pair of silly looking glasses for each team member
How It Works
Pass out the glasses right before you introduce the topic that should be looked at through “magic glasses”. Explain that these are magic glasses which have been designed to let participants see this topic with a new perspective.
Further explain that if they find themselves looking at the topic with their old eyes anytime during the program, they should put their “magic glasses” on.
If team members feel that another team member is still using an old way of looking at things, they may ask that team member to put on her “magic glasses” or they may offer to trade “magic glasses” in order to get a different perspective.
This not only aids your team members with breaking old habits and perspective, but it is also a lot of fun!
This Mind Workout is a good way to end the year and start the new. Ask team members to plan the new year with new perspective by looking through the “magic glasses”.
What Judi's Clients Are Saying |
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“Whatever you are paying her, it’s not enough.”
“Judi is the BEST presenter we’ve ever had.”
“This is the VERY BEST program I’ve ever attended.”
Seminar participants, General Dynamics
“I am powerful and effective. I’m good at what I do. I can get over, under, around, or through any challenges facing me. I am more than enough.”
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