Yes and!
If you know improv, you know that statement. Today on Be The Good with Kate, a 73-year-old widow who became a comedian at the age of 69, shows us how saying ‘yes and’ throughout life will keep you facing your fears, growing, and living your best life. She will have you smiling and laughing before this episode is done.
Shelley Smartly was told she would have 3-5 years to live. That was in the 1990s. As Shelley explains, she initially began preparing for the outcome: she planned her own funeral. Then she decided to take a different course: Shelley dove into learning as much as she could about her diagnosis of scleroderma, created an entire non-profit, and the years went by as she continued to live her life through the autoimmune diagnoses.
Fast forward, Shelley finally has the opportunity for treatment, but her husband passes away.
“My life had been very serious for several decades... And what I felt when he passed away was I knew I could survive it but only if I could laugh again. I had to be able to laugh."
So while receiving 7 hours a day, 5 days a week of transfusions, she spent her evenings ‘recovering’ from that at comedy shows because she knew how much she needed the uplift. Shelley explains that after prior experiences with depression, she knew she had to make herself get out the door. And what a result.
She next started to write during her infusion time and then, once she felt strong enough, she enrolled in a stand-up comedy course. Shelley continued on to become a stand-up comedian– performing "In real shows that people paid money for!".
If all of that weren’t enough, Shelley wanted to continue spreading laughter to more. She developed the now award-winning comedy series, THE SMARTLYS.
I’m so happy to share Shelley’s story with you today on Be The Good with Kate!
Follow Shelley: @thesmartlys thesmartlys.com
Join me each week as I chat with someone being the good through following their passions and helping others along the way.
Each of us has the power to make a difference.
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