Podcast appearances and mentions of benjamin mee

Have you ever wanted your own personal zoo? YOUR zoo? Where you could do all the things you'd love for the animals and conservation? Well, We Bought a Zoo is for you-- about the hardships and challenges, as well as the immense pleasure and healing being THAT close to nature can get you. Through animal escapes, family heartbreak, staffing challenges, and working to gain their accreditation back, this story shares the ups and downs to owning, working, and living the zoo life. The book also brings about some powerful big ideas about leaning on your strengths, connecting to nature, staying positive and consistent in your endeavors, and learning to thrive in a fragile ecosystem, whether that's the planet or in a corporate setting. As one of the first books I read when I moved to Washington in 2009, I find it fitting that I'm discussing it on Zoo-notable now that we just recently moved away to Hawaii for me to continue working in the zoo field. The parallels between Benjamin Mee's story and what I'm experiencing made it a no-brainer to share with you all. If you liked this Zoo-notable, you might also enjoy: Wildlife Warrior (bio about Steve Irwin) Zookeeper Dreams and Travel Extremes Lads Before the Wind by Karen Pryor And pick up a copy of the movie on Bookshop, too!

Hold the Light podcast aims to support and guide lifelong learners and light holders in deepening their connection to personal and spiritual growth. By providing a mix of information, application, and transformation, this show equips people with the tools and inspiration that can help expand and evolve their lives.In this episode I delve into the extraordinary potential of 20 seconds of courage. Inspired by the words of a character named Benjamin Mee (played by Matt Damon) in the movie "We Bought a Zoo," the focus of this episode is about transformation through 20 seconds of courage. Join along as I explore the impact of embracing bravery, letting go of perfection, and reconnecting with our true selves. ~ LaurieEpisode Highlights:Recognizing the multitude of possibilities within 20 seconds, from starting a creative project to reaching out to someone new.Understanding the self-imposed limitations that prevent us from embracing those 20 seconds of courage.Embracing imperfection and the freedom that comes from being okay with being a "B" student in our pursuits.Rediscovering our childhood dreams and examining the moments when we may have lost confidence in them due to external influences.Examining the regrets of not living authentically and suppressing our true emotions, as shared by Bronnie Ware in her book "The Five Regrets of the Dying."Crafting a vision for our future selves, imagining who we want to be and how we want our lives to look like a year from now.Exploring the desired feelings we aspire to such as freedom, joy, connection, or inspiration.Acknowledging the swiftness of time and the need to seize the present moment to avoid future regrets.Issuing a challenge to listeners: What would they do with 20 seconds of insane courage today?I invite you to reflect on the transformative power of 20 seconds of courage. Embrace the challenge to step into the unknown, say yes to yourself, and unlock a future filled with endless possibilities. Remember, your journey is unique, and your actions today will shape the life you envision. THE HTL PODCAST CREWCreator, producer, and host: Laurie Gunning GrossmanCo-producer and audio mixer/sound guru: Jonathan GrossmanOriginal music: Jonathan GrossmanHold the Light podcast is recorded and mixed at Night Shift Audio in Los Angeles, CAFIND US AT:Website: Holdthelightcollective.comNewsletter: SubstackLaurie on IG: @laurie.gunning.grossmanHold the Light on IG: @holdthelightcollectiveRecording Studio: Nightshiftaudio.comJonathan on IG: @guitarpedalshootout Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

All you need is 20 seconds of insane courage, and I promise you something great will come of it. – Benjamin Mee, We Bought a Zoo It was Francis Schaeffer who boldly invited disciples to "do the Lord's work in the Lord's way,” instructing that “we must take the lowest seat at the table until God makes it impossible to do otherwise.”  As we live into more and more of the reality of sonship, one of the foundational ways a man can practice taking the lowest seat at the table is to wholeheartedly pursue the path of a generalist. Through willingly engaging the relationships, things, and details of his life that feel uncomfortable, a generalist acquires not only a severe humility, but all the more a radical trust in a good and active Father.  As we explore the path of becoming a generalist, we might begin with asking ourselves these questions: Where do I feel uncomfortable, as a man?  When do I feel weak?  In what ways do I feel uninitiated?  Where is God asking me to risk?  Friends, join me and this like-hearted tribe of men across the globe choosing to take the lowest seat at the table, step into risk, and engage the uninitiated places of our souls by way of becoming a generalist.  For the Kingdom, Morgan

Mark Richards, the owner of Wasatch Recovery joins us today for another episode of The Wasatch Way. In this episode, Mark and I discuss addiction and the holidays. This is a difficult time for families who have a loved one struggling with addiction.  Often, the family wants to get them help now but the one struggling wants to wait until after the holidays.  Mark is pleading with you to get help now!      In the movie We Bought a Zoo, Benjamin Mee says, “You know, sometimes all you need is twenty seconds of insane courage and I promise you, something great will come of it.”   Mark is asking you to have 20 seconds of insane courage and call him now.  His number is 801-898-7778.  The greatest gift you can give your family is to come in and get treatment.     If you or if someone you know is struggling with addiction, this episode is for you.    Click the link in my bio and enjoy.   #holidays #connection #addiction #mentalhealth #reccovery #recovered #overcome #hope #wasatchrecovery #beliefcast #tsinspires   You can connect with Wasatch here: info@wasatchrecovery.com www.wasatchrecovery.com  801-898-7778

This is the series trailer! Welcome, brave new listeners!The background music is Holiday Gift by Kai Engel, used under an attribution license.The podcast theme song is written by R.T. Koeberl and sung by Sidney Gish.This podcast is in no way affiliated with Cameron Crowe or Benjamin Mee, but there is an open invitation for anyone involved with the film We Bought A Zoo to appear on the show.

In the movie, We Bought A Zoo, Matt Damon's character Benjamin Mee talks about having 20 Seconds of Insane courage when wanting to do something out of your comfort zone. This is a great model we can adopt to achieve more in our own lives and use it as a way to have more success, more breakthrough and more adventure in our day to day living. Join me on this journey for less than a cup of coffee a month by becoming a supporter of this podcast and clicking this link or copying and pasting in your browser. anchor.fm/peopleskills/support --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/peopleskills/support

In 2006, Benjamin Mee bought a zoo. Literally a zoo. It was broken down and in desperate need of a caring owner. Mee and his family were struggling too. Things hadn’t been going well for them either. But in one scene—immortalized by Matt Damon in the movie version of the story—Mee explains to his son that our lives are defined by the moments when we put ourselves out there. When we take a risk that, if we had thought about too much or been too deliberate about, we’d never have been capable of taking.“You know,” he said, “sometimes all you need is twenty seconds of insane courage. Just literally twenty seconds of just embarrassing bravery. And I promise you, something great will come of it.”This idea of breaking courage down—the most important of the virtues to the Stoics—into little pieces is a very good one. A person isn’t brave, generally. We can only be brave, specifically. In the moment. This is as true for you or me or Benjamin Mee’s son as it is for the hardest, most decorated soldiers who have ever served in the military.The two highest honors in the U.S. military are the Medal of Honor and the Distinguished Service Cross. The criteria for being worthy of either of these medals is virtually identical, but what distinguishes the former from the latter is this phrase in the description: “for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty.” And if you read the citations for many Medal of Honor recipients, particularly in more recent conflicts, they are choked with heroism and selflessness like those for Distinguished Service Cross recipients, but the moment in the action that changes everything, that rises to the level of gallantry and intrepidity, is almost always just a moment. It’s not the fighting off of 12 insurgents for 5 hours— it’s the sprinting across an open plain for 20 seconds, exposed to enemy gunfire on three sides, to come to the aid of a fallen comrade, while you fight. Just literally twenty seconds of insane, embarrassing bravery. That’s what courage is. Marcus Aurelius wrote that we shouldn’t be intimidated by life as a whole. We should just look at what’s immediately in front of us. Assemble yourself step by step, he said, no one can stop you from that. That’s the brilliance of this twenty seconds of insane courage too. Even your own fears and your own weaknesses take longer than that to kick in. Think about that today as you consider whether to get up and approach that attractive person across the room. As you’re mulling over that big decision. As you’re questioning whether you should speak up or just go along with something you disagree with. Don’t get intimidated by all of it as a whole. Just take that single step. Give yourself a few seconds of courage. Something great will come of it. Promise.

“If we’re growing we’re always going to be out of our comfort zone.” - John Maxwell Stop being so comfortable! But isn’t comfort the ultimate goal? Being comfortable financially, relationally, emotionally, physically, spiritually? Our culture pushes comfort. The attitude of culture that has impacted everyone of us is, “Just do whatever feels good, whenever you want, and with whomever you want.” If something gets uncomfortable…we have a tendency to just give up. Think about that for a moment. How often have you seen this to be true. Instead of digging in and pressing through the difficult and uncomfortable situation or conversation, people just simply walk away. But where does that really get us? We will just bounce from one place to another all along the same plane…never growing. Keeping our potential locked away deep inside of our own fears and doubts. Before we discuss how to Grow through Discomfort, let’s first look at a quick list of what causes us to be comfortable. Comfortable in a way that causes us to get stuck. Causes of Comfortability:Cushy job and pay. Now, this isn’t a bad thing. But if we stop pursuing the next level we can find our current status a trap. Keep turning to sleeping, eating, and entertainment instead of dealing with growth. When we get stressed or feel pressure, we need to be careful to not reach for the easy and quick fix. Feeling as though you have “arrived”. Add on to that, comparing ourselves to the wrong people. Listen, it’s always easy to find someone who you think you are better than. So then we pat ourselves on the back and get stuck. Fear of Change and Changing. We shouldn’t fear failure or change. What we should fear is being in the same exact place a year from now. Self Doubt. Let me ask you…”who told you that you can’t do ______?” Don’t let the opinions of someone else define your life & purpose! Laziness - I’ll get to it tomorrow “We change our behavior when the pain of staying the same becomes greater than the pain of changing. Consequences give us the pain that motivates us to change.” - Henry Cloud Being Stuck Stinks There is pain in Leadership Growth. But it's a pain that is incredible worth it!“Strength and growth come only through continuous effort and struggle.” - Napoleon Hill5 Ways to Grow through Discomfort: First answer “Why do I want and need to grow?” Identify where you need to grow...what your first step is & do it. Try something new - live a little. Change your mindset from “I Can’t” to “I Can & Will"Discipline, not Motivation is the goal. Be disciplined to do the plan. Getting up early, working out, finishing a project, etc… Set growth goals and start moving that direction…now!Push through the Fear: “You know, sometimes all you need is twenty seconds of insane courage. Just literally twenty seconds of just embarrassing bravery. And I promise you, something great will come of it.” - Benjamin Mee, We Bought a Zoo So, what are you waiting for? The better version of you is just ahead of you. If nobody has told you this lately, let me remind you. You can do this…you’ve got this!

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+14%3A22-33&version=NRSV (Matthew 14:22-33) A few years ago Julie, my wife, and I went to see a wonderful movie entitled “We Bought a Zoo.” It starred Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson, and it's the true story of a man named Benjamin Mee and his children who bought a 30-acre zoo. He had all kinds of animals, but was unable to open it because it was so rundown. Faced with a series of challenges, he attempted to get it open again for the community. Rat infestation, finding money to feed the animals, animals escaping – it wasn't easy. Mee admitted at one point, “There were lots of times when I thought, ‘What have I done?'” So why did Benjamin Mee buy and remodel the zoo? In the film he says, “Sometimes all you need is twenty seconds of insane courage. Just twenty seconds of embarrassing bravery, and I promise you, something great will come of it.” That is about how long it took for the apostle Peter to get out of the boat in our story for today. Jesus has just fed 5,000 people with five loaves and two fishes. They are ecstatic about the great powers Jesus has! The disciples are ecstatic as well. The crowd wants to make Him a king, and the disciples are probably nodding their heads saying, Why not? So Jesus breaks up the party and makes the disciples immediately get into a boat, pushes them out into the sea, says He'll meet them later. Then He dismisses the crowds and goes up into the hills to pray. While the disciples are out on the water, a fierce storm comes up. They are afraid they are going to go down. The disciples fought this storm for nine hours! Can you imagine? I can hardly take two hours on rough water when I'm out boating. About 3:00 in the morning, Jesus comes toward them, and they think it's a ghost. He cries out to them, “It's me. Don't be afraid.” Then something really amazing happened – Peter in his impulsiveness opened his mouth and said, “Lord, if it's you, bid me to come out on the water with you.” Of all things, as if to say, I dare you, Jesus replies, “Come on out!” And before anyone could stop Peter, he got out of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. But when he noticed the threatening waves, he panicked and began to sink like a rock. But give him credit, he had the wherewithal to cry out, “Lord, help me!” Suddenly a hand grabbed him by the collar and pulled him up out of the water. There was the face of Jesus saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” When they were back into the boat, the storm stopped and the disciples all worshiped Jesus saying, “You are the Son of God.” Jesus' statement – You of little faith, why did you doubt? – is a key statement in the story. I have a picture of Jesus pulling Peter out of the water on my wall. Below it are the words, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” I like it. Why? Because it describes me sometimes – little faith. We learn something important in this story: Jesus loves it when we exercise daring faith in Him. Remember, Peter did walk on the water. Though it was brief, he stepped out in faith! Eyewitnesses saw it. Perhaps Jesus was prepping Peter for bigger things ahead, bigger than a little walk on the water that day. One day after the resurrection, Peter would hear Jesus tell him, Feed my sheep and tend my lambs . . . You will be my witness in this world. I wonder if the other disciples were wishing they had walked on water like Peter. How did it feel? Is it possible that the story was saved to not only show us who Jesus really is – the Son of God who came to die on a cross to save us from sin and rise again – but also to encourage us and challenge us to step out in faith as followers of Jesus Christ. If you want to walk on water, you've got to get out of the boat in faith. I think that lesson has been applied in various times in the history of Christianity. One example that comes to mind is Martin Luther. I just finished reading...

Benjamin Mee is the Zoo Director at Datmoor Zoological Park. We talk about how he went from college dropout to Zoo Director in less than 10 years. We also talk about the story behind the book and movie We Bought a Zoo based on his life. Continue Reading→

"You know, sometimes all you need is twenty seconds of insane courage. Just literally twenty seconds of just embarrassing bravery. And I promise you, something great will come of it." - Benjamin Mee (from "We Bought a Zoo") Are you ready for your 20 seconds of insane courage?

Libby Purves is joined by financial expert Alvin Hall; Greek-Cypriot singer-writer Alkinoos Ioannidis; foreign correspondent Alex Crawford and the owner of Dartmoor Zoological Park, Benjamin Mee. Alvin Hall is a financial educator and author. He presented the BBC series Your Money or Your Life, in which he offered practical, financial and psychological advice to people to help them take control of and fix their finances. His latest book The Stock Market Explained - Your Guide to Successful Investing is published by Hodder & Stoughton. Alkinoos Ioannidis is a Greek-Cypriot singer-songwriter. He studied classical guitar and theatre before signing a record deal and has now released eleven solo albums. His influences include traditional Cypriot and Byzantine music. He has just released his first album in the UK, Local Stranger (on Wrasse Records) and is performing a five date tour. Alex Crawford OBE is Sky News's Special Correspondent who became a household name last year when she was the first reporter to broadcast live from Green Square in Tripoli. She was praised for her live on-screen reporting of the Battle of Tripoli as the rebels advanced on the square. Her book 'Colonel Gaddafi's Hat' is published by HarperCollins. Benjamin Mee and his family bought Dartmoor Zoological Park in 2005 shortly before his wife's death. His story of dealing with grief while taking on the responsibility for the zoo and its animals has just been turned into a Hollywood film starring Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson. The film is based on Benjamin's 2008 memoir We Bought a Zoo: The Amazing True Story of a Young Family, a Broken Down Zoo, and the 200 Wild Animals That Change Their Lives (published by HarperCollins). Producer: Paula McGinley.