Tom Shadyac - Lifes Operating Manual

Free e-Newsletters
from Hay House, the Ultimate
Resource for Inspiration

Be the first to know about Hay Houses dollar deals, free downloads, special offers, affirmation cards, giveaways, contests and more!

	Get exclusive excerpts from our latest releases and videos from Hay House Present Moments.
	Enjoy uplifting personal stories, how-to articles and healing advice along with videos and empowering quotes within Heal Your Life.
	Have an uplifting story to tell and a passion for writing? Sharpen your writing skills with insider tips from Your Writing Life.

Visit www.hayhouse.com to sign-up today

Copyright 2013 by Tom Shadyac

Published and distributed in the United States by: Hay House, Inc.: www.hayhouse.com Published and distributed in Australia by: Hay House Australia Pty. Ltd.: www.hayhouse.com.au Published and distributed in the United Kingdom by: Hay House UK, Ltd.: www.hayhouse.co.uk Published and distributed in the Republic of South Africa by: Hay House SA (Pty), Ltd.: www.hayhouse.co.za Distributed in Canada by: Raincoast: www.raincoast.com Published in India by: Hay House Publishers India: www.hayhouse.co.in

Cover and interior design: Nita Ybarra

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced by any mechanical, photographic, or electronic process, or in the form of a phonographic recording; nor may it be stored in a retrieval system, transmitted, or otherwise be copied for public or private useother than for fair use as brief quotations embodied in articles and reviewswithout prior written permission of the publisher.

The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any technique as a form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest for emotional and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any of the information in this book for yourself, which is your constitutional right, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on File at the Library of Congress

Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-4019-4309-7

16 15 14 13 4 3 2 1
1st edition, May 2013

Printed in the United States of America

Dont think of him as a seeker... Whatever hes looking for, he is that himself.

RUMI

Dont die... With that holy ruby mine inside Still unclaimed.

HAFIZ

IM A STORYTELLER, a film director for over 25 years, so let me begin with a story... In June of 1998, after wrapping Liar, Liar, Jim Carrey, another friend, and I decided to head to Alaska to breathe some clean air, revel in natures beauty, and talk about life, love, and the meaning of it all. A few days into our adventure, we were flying high over the Chugach Mountains when our bush pilot received radio instructions that he needed to deliver gasoline to some 20 hikers stranded on a nearby glacier. Thats when the idea hit me: Hey, Jim. Why dont you make the delivery? In a split second, Jim realized the hilarious potential of this scenario. You see, where we were was beyond remote. Our lodge, for example, was 200 miles from a paved road. Youre lucky to see anyone, much less Ace Ventura delivering gasoline. But thats what was about to happen, and when our pilot agreed, we were giddy with anticipation.

It wasnt long before we landed 75 yards or so from the hikers. Jim got out, and with gas can in hand, walked toward the unsuspecting group. He then held the red can high and in Ace Venturas voice announced, Hi, Im Jim Carrey! I heard you needed some gas! Ill never forget those 20 hikers mouths opening wide in utter disbelief. Jim set the can down, then added: Tom Cruise will be by later with some trail mix! With dramatic flair, he spun on his heels and headed back to the plane. And with that, we were off, howling with laughter at those flabbergasted faces all frozen with the same expression that said: Jim Carrey was the last person anyone expected to deliver gas on a glacier in the Alaskan wilderness!

As I write this, I feel a bit like Im Jim, and you, perhaps, are the unsuspecting hikers: Im the last person you might expect to deliver a message about fixing a world gone wrong. I am, after all, in the eyes of that world, just a comedy directorAce Ventura: Pet Detective; The Nutty Professor; Liar, Liar; Patch Adams; Bruce Almighty; Evan Almightywhich makes me an unlikely source for the content of this book. So unlikely, it took a near-death experience to give me the courage to share my story, first in the documentary I AM, and now here.

My brush with death was not exactly the stuff of legend or even worthy of a Hallmark movie. It was a routine concussion from a mountain bike accident that turned deadly when the symptoms of that concussion refused to go away. The condition is known as post-concussion syndrome (PCS), suffered frequently by boxers, hockey and football players, and middle-aged adventurists like me who have hit their head one too many times.

If youve ever had a concussion, you know these are not symptoms you want hanging around: sensitivity to light and sound, mood swings, and a constant ringing inside your head. Its the kind of torture I could not have imagined enduring for a day, let alone a month. But I did, for five months. To give you some idea of what this pain is like, imagine the static sound emitted during one of those emergency broadcast tests on your television set. Now imagine that sound turned up as loud as your TV will go. You reach for the volume to crank it down, but it doesnt work. You try to leave your apartment but the doors are locked. Theres no escaping the auditory onslaught, so you simply sit down to endure this 60 seconds from hell. But it doesnt go away after 60 seconds. It keeps blaring, for an entire hour, then a week, then a month, then several months. That was my experience with PCSthe only relief coming with complete isolation, hanging blackout curtains on windows, and sleeping on a floor in a bedroom closet. After five impossibly long months, a simple realization came: if this is as good as my health gets, I will not live long; I am staring at the last chapter of my life.

Its a powerful thing to face your own death, how mortality can move one into action. And once I surrendered, a single thought came to mind: