Читать книгу How to Ask for What You Want and Get It! - Lucille Orr - Страница 14

Read some good books on building self-esteem and confidence. There are hundreds of books today that can help you to change your outlook on life. I’ve made it a habit in the past 40 years to always have a book on my bedside table. My favourites are autobiographies written by successful people. I enjoy re-reading How to Think Like a Millionaire, a book that includes the life story of Ray Kroc, the founder of the McDonald’s hamburger chain. His story always inspires me, as he was 53 years old when he began building the McDonald’s empire. It proves you’re never too old to be successful, if you have the desire.

I love telling the story about my first trip to Las Vegas, partly because of my passion to be an entertainer. In 1975 I embarked alone on a world trip and met actor Telly Savalas in a Greek Tavern on the Broadway in San Francisco. He and his friends invited me to watch Telly making the television show KOJAK when I met them again in Los Angeles. I also went to the recording studios where Telly was recording records. He didn’t sing, but had a magnificent deep voice and would talk on his recordings. Then they arranged for me to join them in Palm Springs for a Golf and Tennis Tournament; an annual event for the Music and Film Industry of USA. What an exciting time I had in California and later in Las Vegas. Telly arranged for me to be picked up at the Las Vegas airport in a limousine, enjoy Casino rates at the Stardust Hotel (half the normal room rate) and attend the Frank Sinatra concert. I remember feeling very important on the night of the concert. Sitting in the front row wearing my long red evening gown with red feathers at the neck, I imagined myself on stage one day.

That evening Frank Sinatra’s support act encouraged me to believe I can achieve anything I want to. At the end of his magnificent performance he announced he’d been singing professionally for 20 years. He told us he was celebrating his 80th birthday that week and the audience applauded loudly and gave him a standing ovation. How sad I thought, to have waited 60 years to do the thing he loved and wanted so much, all his life. But it’s never too late.

The same evening while enjoying a coffee with an American woman I’d met at the concert, a young man came over to our table and asked for my autograph. He thought I was a star! That really topped off a perfect night for me. I never did ask him who he thought I was and in hindsight I feel sorry I disappointed him by telling him the truth.