Last week I saw a documentary on campus called May I be Frank? It was a human interest story about a man named Frank who was down in the dumps. He was struggling with several issues (weight, drugs and alcohol, depression) that had him down in the dumps. It was a perfect example of how the body is a system because all of the parts are connected. All of this affected Frank's image of himself, his self-esteem, and confidence. He was on a downward spiral for sure.
Then Frank stumbled into the Gratitude Cafe in San Francisco. And the way I understood the story is each day at the Cafe they have a "question of the day." On the day Frank walked in, the question was: "What is one thing you want to do before you die?" When Frank was asked this question by one of the employees, he responded: "I want to fall in love again, but no one will love me the way I look now."
So three young men at the Cafe befriended Frank and took him on as a personal challenge to see if they could transform him in 42 days. (I am still not sure why 42 days. I plan to email Frank and find out.) They used a holistic method that combines mind, body, and spirit. In other words, it was a positive, yet not easy, approach of helping Frank understand why he was overweight and why wanted to use numbing substances to not be present.
In the documentary, we see the process used that actually transformed Frank. While he had setbacks along the way, it is a success story of the power of personal transformation. But what made watching the documentary so moving was meeting Greg the director and Frank in the Q and A session after the showing. Listening to their stories was powerful. It was a night I will remember.
The next day, Greg and Frank came to my leadership class to share more about Frank's personal transformation. I will share more about that in the next few days. I can't stop thinking about the movie–May I Be Frank? and Frank.
Life is about transformation. We continue to evolve as we grow in life experience. Or our growth will be stunted and stalled if we are addicted to anything that numbs our senses. Then life just passes us by. We need to stay awake!
How can you respect someone else if you can’t respect yourself? Taking care of yourself is going to help you take care of someone else. He left class by saying “Do something nice for somebody, and don’t get caught.” You must do something nice for yourself before you do something nice for someone else…. Self-respect is a great quality to have, and it makes it easier to pass great things on to other people.
Frank is a great example of someone who is living in the moment. He was very eager to answer any questions and excited to talk to our leadership class. Frank wasn’t always “awake”, but now he seems to enjoy life a lot more. He has a very inspirational story and luckily is willing to share with the rest of the world.
This was such an inspiring story. He went through many trials and tribulations during his “transforming” days. Within himself, Frank found motivation to get out of bed each morning, have the three guys help him physically, emotionally, and spiritually, and transform himself. He fought his previous behavior, so he would not continue with his life abusing drugs and alcohol.
I can’t imagine not having my dad a part of my life, and I am so grateful for him each and everyday. It is so neat Frank and his daughter rekindled their relationship, and are able to share together some of the time they missed.
I also really enjoyed hearing Frank’s story both from them speaking and the film! It is a true example of holistic transformation. (I too was meaning to ask if there was a reason it was specifically 42 days) Though I thought the focus would be more on his physical transformation, it was certainly much more than that; focusing on spirituality, mental health, and relationships as well.
One thing that I was thinking about too, was the whole environment of the Gratitude Cafe–I would love to visit it! There was one time in the movie when they talked about how they were also able to help transform the mindset and lifestyles of their employees by nurturing them. This is true leadership and an example of how we can help others find meaning at work.
It was refreshing how real Frank was when speaking to our leadership class. I could tell that he was genuinely grateful to be in class and has accepted his role of impacting others.
At one point, he talked about how faith and fear are inextricably related. I agree that one’s faith should be at its strongest in times of strife. Without faith, it would be incredibly hard to deal with the hardships in life.
It was true privilege to have Frank come and share his story in a more in depth way. It goes to show that no matter what adversity you go through it can be overcame. We all deal with daily “messes” but we should never allow it to mess with our message. It was just great to hear his story, and see him really loving his life and how happy he was after this transformation.
I thought it was awesome having Frank come and speak to our leadership class. I could really sense that he is a changed person and he is someone who now has a better outlook on life. I thought it was really cool that the three employees decided to befriend him and from there, push him to be who he wants to be. Think of it, without those three people, who knows what Frank would be doing now.
We need more people like that in today’s society. People who are willing to give someone else a chance and believe in a complete stranger. Only with them will we be able to see peoples’ true colors.
I really enjoyed Frank’s story and felt myself rooting for him the entire movie. When I heard the movie was about a man that goes on a raw food diet I was not too thrilled about going to see it. I was suprised that the physical trasformation of Frank was not even the main focus of the movie. Frank was made to say positive things to himself everyday and I believe that made a huge difference in his attitude. Sometimes it just takes one moment in your life to make that change and for Frank it all started with the boys from the Gratitude Cafe.
I also enjoyed the documentary and it really made it all the more real when he came to speak to our class. I thought it really fit in with a theme from our class, about asking for help and being vulnerable. We’ve talked about how even the best leaders don’t know everything and don’t always have it all together, and Frank mentioned that in class. He told us not to worry about that, because NO ONE has it all together. To be a good leader, you just have to have faith and still believe through the hard times. Frank was a leader in his own way, and at the time he had no idea.
I really enjoyed watching the documentary, but what I thought made it the most touching was being able to see Frank in person and to compare his past state to his present state. It was apparent that Frank embodied so much more self-confidence and was eager to share his story with others during the Q and A session. I was glad that the documentary focused on more than just Frank’s raw food diet because his emotional journey was just as important. It was apparent that Frank’s hard exterior slowly disintegrated and he was able to show a more vulnerable and real side of who he was.
It was inspiring for me to see someone like Frank whom accomplished his goals in 42 days. I also had the opportunity to ask Frank a question on how he did it. I like it so much I bought his CD after the film @ $20.
I didn’t tried the drinks they were serving after film thought.
I had to agree with Tyler when I first heard about the movie. The idea of watching someone lose weight using a raw food diet and colonics just didn’t sound interesting. I’m glad the film focused more on his emotional state because I think a lot of the things he was feeling are universal. At least, they resonated with me. I’m glad he was able to meet three guys who were able to give him a sense of direction and the support he needed to change his life. This video does an excellent job showing the power of positive thinking.
May I Be Frank displays a great story of transformation. I enjoyed watching the documentary and seeing the type of person he was and how he changed. It made it a lot more real when Frank came to our leadership class. He is living proof that you can do anything you put your mind to! Frank taught us so many good lessons, all beginning with his purpose for transformation…to fall in love again. One of Frank’s quotes that I enjoyed the most was, “Be the person who loves you the most.” If you don’t love yourself, than how can you expect someone else to love you? This reminded me of Jim Kouzes’ secret to success, which is to stay in love. Make yourself vulnerable enough in order to fall deeply in love!
It was a real joy to have Frank come and speak, as well as watching the documentary. Frank has really been through a lot and it was awesome to have share his thoughts and opinions on many different subjects during the question session. It amazes me how many different aspects that Frank changed and still was unhappy. Hopefully we can all find peace with ourselves someday.
It was great being able to have the opportunity to see the documentary, May I Be Frank. Not only was his weight transformation incredible, but his transformation of mending relationships and becoming more self confidence was inspiring. During the Q and A session, you could tell how he had so much more self confidence, and he was honest about every aspect of his life. He said that sometimes it is hard to watch the documentary, seeing how he acted towards the most important people in his life, but he learned from that. He is beginning to love and respect himself, which shows he has come a very long way!
Stories such as Frank’s are inspirational to everyone. He was a gu who wanted to make some changes in his life and he worked hard to make those changes. Frank is an inspiration to anyone looking to make positive changes in their life.