Oh MY!

Barry is the man who was completely paralyzed overnight from a rare disease and built a system to enable YOU to Live in JOY, daily. Yep, that’s me. I’m also a Mental health Activist, having known deep trauma and despair. In addition I’m a successful serial entrepreneur with 2 multi million dollar exits, 3 issued US Patents, and a vision for enabling people to donate money at no cost. Yes, You’re reading right. Lest I forget, I’m a best selling author. A successful podcaster with more than 3 million. A sought after Business Consultant and Coach. Most importantly, I’m married for over 45 years and have 2 grandchildren. Did I mention that I’ve been privileged to Found and Nurture and Grow the World Wide KEEP SMILING Movement? To date more than 3.2 Million JOY Cards have been shared for free. They save lives. Enhance marriages. And help people to live happier, healthier lives. None of the above was done without the help of Remarkable Wonder-filled Loving Beings who understand that the JOY of LIVING Can be summed up in a word….. GIVING.

Early History. Regular Guy. Sort of…

I grew up in Boston, Massachusetts. Google it if you’re not sure where this is. Great place to be from. Cold snowy winters. Hot and humid summers. Glorious Spring. Blazing colorful Fall. From childhood, say ages 10 and above, i was involved in doing things that brought benefit to people and made money. Yes, i was entrepreneurial before i could spell the word.

Example: listening to the radio in the morning while snow was falling awaiting news that school was closed. YES!! OK. Now, go back to sleep. No. Watch TV. No. Play video games…didn’t exist. Netflix. Didn’t exist. Ditto all the DIS-Tractions that do exist today.

I got dressed with long underwear. Dungarees. They weren’t called jeans then. Two layers of shirt and overcoat. Hat and ear muffs…it was cold out! Gloves…2 pair. One a spare. And a shovel. Because i’m about to make some serious money shoveling snow.

Now dealing with householders, especially neighbors, is not so easy when you’re 10. The ability to knock on doors, discuss a price, walk away if necessary (great tactic which i didn’t realize at the time) and agree on a mutually beneficial price and then Do the Work (yes, it was WORK) was a great education.

What was better. Hold on. This is so kewl. From a 10 year old.

I had a few friends who wanted to make money but didn’t want to talk to people or negotiate. So i offered to share the wage on an 80/20 basis. I always tried for a $10 job because it was easy math and my friends got $8 which incentivized them to do about 5 jobs. Yes, they made $40….i made $10. Plus i made $10 on my own jobs. And i usually and 5 friends on the TEAM.

You’ve got it. Five kids each making $40. I made $10 per kid… that’s $50. Plus my own 5 jobs for $50. That’s $100 for a full day’s heavy work. But guess what. Search shows: $100 in 1960 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $958.50 today. Yes, I was born in 1948. It felt good. Tasted even better. Because my allowance was… hold on… 25 cents/week. Amazing! Hey it only snowed like this twice per season. And sometimes i could only rally 3 friends. But the EXPERIENCE was Tremendous.

I learned about organizing. Negotiating. Encouraging. Coordinating. Dealing with unhappy customers. Can you imagine! Sharing. And the FEELING of…..ownership. My Time. My Idea. My success or otherwise. Pretty amazing for a kid of 10. 11. 12.

The Gold Mine

I had the ideal job for a kid growing up in Boston. I sold scorecards outside Fenway Park! For those of You who don’t know this venerable stadium….do a search. From the ages 12-14 I made lots of money, have some great stories from these years and learned important life lessons for other successful business ventures. And I saw dozens of Red Sox games… for Free!

Here’s where I met Elijah, a wizened black man who taught me about Life, Selling, Value and Caring. It’s all in my book, The JOY Of Living. Here’s where I learned about Service, Exceeding Expectations, Gross Margin. Here’s where I learned that BUSINESS the U comes before the I. These are the lessons of Wisdom. Took me another 2 decades or so to integrate but the seeds were planted. And I’m forever grateful. Gratitude IS that emotion with the longest shelf life.

College Dropout

The Ambassador of JOY was also an inveterate traveler. I had gone cross country twice by the age of 18. At 19 I went to Europe on a one-way ticket. Yes, You COULD do this in 1967. Ah, you guessed it…i dropped out of college in my 3rd year. The wanderlust coupled with a restlessness born of not finding a place in the University ‘system’ weighed on me.

Of course I started 2 moderately successful businesses in college. One was picking up and delivering dry cleaning. Of course I didn’t do the actual pick up and delivery. It was built on the model of snow shoveling. Find TEAM members and share the revenue. It worked well and was fun for beer money and spring break vacations.

Oh the other gig was arranging poker games. I was the unofficial ‘house’ and earned a small fee from each pot. By the way POT was just happening then and i did distribute for selected friends but it wasn’t a business. I did see that it could be lucrative but it didn’t grab my attention.

Living in Europe was eye opening. I was based in Amsterdam which was the crossroads of the world in those halcyon days. We were a group of 12 or so from different backgrounds and cultures living by our wits. This was a challenging time which enabled me to utilize my talents and refine my skills working with people from many cultures/languages/ viewpoints to not only survive but flourish.

I stayed for 3 years traveling extensively throughout Europe. Plus I attended the newly formed FREI University in Amsterdam. Essentially I left the formal University of America to gain real life lessons.

Return of the Prodigal Son

When I returned to Boston at the ripe age of 22 it was as a budding entrepreneur in a unique field. While in Amsterdam we started making Products from discarded oriental rugs that we bought at the flea market. They sold well in Europe and I decided to do the same in Boston. So I bought a crate load of rugs and shipped them along with my VW MicroBus to Boston.

I opened a fashionable boutique on the hippest shopping street in the City: Newberry Street. This store, named FRED, was written up in Boston Magazine and was frequented by local and national celebrities like Cheech and Chong. OK… do a search if You don’t know or remember.

It was also a fascinating time where such ideas as Macrobiotics, Erewhon Market, Wheat Grass, and people as diverse as the Merry Pranksters, Richard Alpert and Timothy Leary, Dr. Ann Wigmore, and Bucky Fuller were in the area. Barry met them all. I’m sure You’ll be doing a search on a number of these!

TRAGEDY!!… HOLD ON for an AHA Moment (and why it matters to YOU)

While traveling via car from Boston to the National Boutique Show in NYC in June 1972 I was struck in a head on collision at 60 mph! Despite being in a VW Beetle (without a seat belt…hey it WAS 1972) and the car rushing headlong (crossing over the median at 12:30 AM!) was a big full-size Buick, I lived. It was touch and go for a few hours.

The result was a broken right femur (the biggest and hardest bone in the body to break) and shards of glass all over my upper body. Thankfully this happened in Westchester County, NY and I was operated on by top surgeons. Two high-tech experimental titanium metal plates each with 10 2- inch bolts were inserted into my body to mend the femur. (see picture)

Was it assured I would ever walk again? NO. Did I? Yes! Now it did take more than 2 years of intensive physical therapy. This was mostly hatha yoga for 3 hours/day for 5/days/week. Plus Tai Chi. Plus Acupuncture. Plus 2 more operations. And most of all: a resolute prayer oriented positive purposeful powerful attitude

AND THAT’S WHERE YOU COME IN… THE FIRST TIME

The Formula for Success despite intense pain and immobility was… Prayer, Therapy, and LOVE. The last BOTH Giving and Receiving.

That’s the AHA! Seeking and finding the Formula for Healing. And LIVING well. By studying for hours per day with devoted teachers and consciously thinking about the healing power of the body, I became a model for hundreds of people with challenging physical and mental issues. I was happy to be of benefit. OK… interesting. But what’s in this for ME?

PATH TO SUCCESS: DIAMONDS… and More

During this time I advised several new businesses and was paid well. I returned to University and Graduated with a double degree in History and Economics from the University of Massachusetts.

Then in 1975 I decided to relocate to Southern California, having visited several times over prior years. After all, one doesn’t need a visa to travel and move in the United States unlike living in Europe. Remember this was pre EU. Oh, and the weather WAS a major factor. Warm all year round, living near the ocean. Initially I lived in Beverly Hills. Then Pacific Palisades and then settled into Venice Beach with that open “make things happen” vibe.

The reason for my move was the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), the foremost school in the world for studying diamonds and gems. Not only did I attend but I excelled. It was a natural affinity of learning and fascination.

I was asked to teach the diamond program. I did this for 3 years and met some of the most important people in the world wide diamond business, which in the late 70’s was still as portrayed in movies. Everything was done with a handshake. Your word was the bond to seal deals worth millions of dollars.

By 1979 my business partner, Frank C Bonham, one of the most talented gemologists in the country, and I became wholesale diamond dealers. Within 3 years we bought and sold over $100 million dollars of diamonds, advised a NY Trust Fund on a $20 million diamond fund, authored a book on Investing in Diamonds which sold 3,000 copies @ $85 each and applied for and was approved for the first Limited Partnership in diamond/gem investment in the State of California.

It was a whirlwind.

BOUNTY STRIKES

The best part of all these amazing adventures: I met and married my amazing Naomi. She was attending the GIA from Bangkok, Thailand. We’re still married 45 years later. Nothing compares. You’ll see.

And then a major Venture Capital Company approached the Shore/Bonham Team and made an offer you can’t refuse to acquire our expertise in gems, sales, and management. Now I was out in the field teaching and training more than 1200 agents to position diamonds/gems in people’s investment and retirement accounts. I was the public face because of my talents to connect with people and impart knowledge in an easy yet powerful platform. Audiences ranged from 50 to 5,000. Recall this was all done prior to the Internet, Zoom, Cell Phones, Texting, and even mail.

And remember the days of snow shoveling and building TEAMS. None of this could be accomplished without Everyone Benefiting.

The Greatest Lesson for Business and the Business of LIFE: To work Together so Everyone Achieves Miracles.

Fun story: we had the FIRST dedicated FAX line in downtown Los Angeles. We had an office on the 41st floor of the tallest building in Los Angeles. The FAX line was to communicate with the HQ of the acquiring Company which was 28 miles away.. Those were still the days of TELEX machines. Do a search on that!

We did so well that I decided to “retire” at the age of 34. But I couldn’t. I returned to business and built an international telephony company. I had traveled the World and saw the disparities and high costs of calling both nationally and internationally because Government controlled telecommunications. The USA was the world leader in deregulation of telephony and the resultant competition caused prices to fall and availability to soar.

From this arbitrage I envisioned an innovative process in 1999 that enabled a FAX to be sent and received via email. It seems funny now but FAX was dominant then with only a few million email users in the world and it was DIAL UP! Suffice to say I found a TEAM to build a process that could SEND and RECEIVE FAX to 17 countries for FREE. I was awarded two patents in this space and built a stellar executive team. I sold the company 18 months later for more than $10 million. Today, the acquiring company has a $6+ billion market cap.

The Internet was THE Place to Be

I then built a predecessor to Skype, enabling people to call 21 countries for FREE. In nine months, the company was bought by a NASDAQ-listed company.

And then it Wasn’t. I Lost $40 Million.

The Crash of Internet 1.0 wiped out billions of dollars and many recently listed companies. Did I lose all my money? No. Only most. Was I devastated? No. And Yes. I recalled the days of my Youth. Selling. Building. The Lessons from Good People. My knowledge of working with People. My knowledge of Diamonds. My Health. My Wife. So much to be Thankful for. So Much Gratitude. Could I let events ruin what I did have and cherish? No.

Hey interesting but….what’s in this for me? Here it comes.

I was contacted by a major California real estate company. They wanted to bring internet services to their portfolio of 20,000 apartment units and millions of square feet of commercial properties.

After all, I did know something about the Internet. And connectivity. And cable. And had a Vision of the Future. So I negotiated contracts with the big players: AT&T. Time Warner. COX.

With my TEAM from the real estate company we brought in millions of dollars plus brought services and value to residents. Everybody was benefiting. Which is the hallmark of how I do business.

Great, But what about ME?

Then another “head on collision”. On September 17, 2004, life as I knew it changed. Imagine this: I became paralyzed overnight. It wasn’t from an auto accident or a spinal injury. It was a rare neurological disease called Guillain-Barré Syndrome, GBS, which took over my body. Yes, do a search.

All I could do was blink my eyes. I was a quadriplegic. Now a new journey began. Money meant nothing. Notoriety meant nothing. Stress. Pain. Fear. Worry. Anxiety. Depression. I’ve been through them all.

And have still found the SUCCESS FORMULA Works: Prayer. Therapy. LOVE.

The same Keys that brought me through to life at the age of 22 were the Keys to life at 55. And now in my 70’s… and looking forward to decades more.

People often ask me, please tell us what You were thinking during those early days of total paralysis. Here are two stories.

The first happened around 10:30 PM in the hospital. I knew this because the shift started at 10 PM and the night nurse came in to say hello. She asked if I would like to watch a video until she brought my sleeping pills at 11:30. I answered in my barely audible whisper, Yes, Thank You. I selected a biopic of Abraham Lincoln. We all know how that turns out. So, I had tears in my eyes. And they’re salty. They burn. Normally You just wipe them away. But nothing on my body moved. Normally there’s a call button for the nurse but my fingers couldn’t push a button so a special call button was set up on the pillow near my head. But I couldn’t reach it. The tears burned. I called out in my barely audible voice… help. Please. No one responded. I called again. No response.

The PAIN was intense. There was no way to get rid of the tears. I resolved to count to 3 and call out in my strongest voice. So at 3 and with a prayer to heaven I called out. Help! Please! I counted to 7 and someone appeared at the door. Did You call Mr. Shore? In my whisper… yes. My eyes. She came over. Wiped my eyes. Daubed them with water. And with a voice of exasperation said: is that all? At that moment I realized: No one knows the PAIN of another. No one.

Story number two. Most everyone knows that a catheter is used to release urine. Relieving fecal matter is a different process. Sometimes a bed pan works. Not for a quad. Imagine being spoon fed which is humiliating enough. But at least I could taste food and chew. Slowly.

The process of removing hard waste is known as Disimpaction. I won’t describe it (do a search) but suffice to say it reduces one’s humanity. This was my life for all my 144 days in hospitals. Except for one time when I was able to be moved onto a chair and relieve myself somewhat.

Stress. Anxiety. Depression. Worry. Fear. These were constant in my life while in hospitals. And for the next number of years. What saved me? Gratitude.

The ability to be Grateful for the smallest of life’s functions. To wipe away a tear. To go to the toilet. To sit up. LOVE and Gratitude have been my constant companions once I resolved to let them fill me UP.

Complaints are the antithesis of Life. As You’ll learn when You read my book: The JOY Of LIVING, How to Slay Stress and Be Happy one of the 11 Strategies for Living in JOY daily, no matter the circumstances is:

Don’t Complain. Don’t Blame. It’s about YOU. Live Life to the FULL.

And this is where YOU come in. To recognize the Value of True Happiness. Good health. Real wealth.

Imagine, I was a quadriplegic for years. Thankfully I regained partial mobility through years of intense Therapy. Prayer. And Love. These enabled me to “GO MAD,” my acronym for Go Make a Difference!

I formulated the 3 Fundamentals of Life.

• Life, Your Life, has Purpose
• Live a Purpose Driven Life and You can GO MAD
• Unlock the Power and Secrets of Everyday Words and Terms

This means in essence bringing into the world the unique combination of my positive purposeful powerful attitude with a zest for LIFE based on JOY.

JOY is the sine qua non of Living Life to the Full. JOY stands for Journey Of YOU. The Success Formula learned from an early age continues to animate:

Prayer, Therapy, and LOVE.

The Vision

While laying in bed unable to move I envisioned a universally accessible portal that would enable people to Learn to LIVE in JOY, daily. No matter the circumstances. To that end www.barryhsore.com and JOLI™ were born.

BECAUSE IT’S ALL ABOUT. Yes, YOU It’s about YOU becoming the best YOU possible. And when YOU do so, YOU make the World a better place. YOU build bridges of Harmony. YOU create more JOY. Happiness. Peace. LOVE.

As part of the R/EVOLUTION I was able to bring together several of my most successful processes that touch and transform people.

One of these is the 2-decade running KEEP SMILING MOVEMENT. These are distinctive blue cards that read KEEP SMILING on the Front and Value of a Smile Paragraph on the Back. They’re currently in 27 languages. They make a difference in people’s lives. Thus far more than THREE MILLION have been distributed worldwide. For FREE.

In addition to the physical cards there is the opportunity to send Keep Smiling and JOY Inspiration cards worldwide via email. Totally FREE. And highly impactful. These messages enhance and even save lives. Ask me for several of these stories. I am dedicated to Transforming the World with JOY. As are YOU. We suffer from a JOY deficit today. Together we CAN create a JOY Surplus.

TEAM = Together Everyone Achieves Miracles.

WII FM… the most listened to frequency in the World

What’s In It For ME?

The JOY Of LIVING Community

OK… Very Interesting but how does this help ME I am living GO MAD. YOU can as well. The JOY Of LIVING Community (™) is a resource and benefit to millions worldwide. I am focusing my prodigious energy and talents on assisting people who are ready to move into: Living in JOY, daily. No matter the circumstances. Stress, anxiety, depression, worry. Fear. Are afflicting People. Everywhere. Together WE can teach people to reduce these and even use STRESS to their Advantage.

That’s the GOAL of the JOY Of LIVING Community(™).

YOU will be able to experience me and the proven Success Formula via the Podcast, Videos, Moment of Love, JOY Notes, and writings. These are filled with Practical Tips and Tools. They’re all designed to create a JOY Surplus.

The Podcast

The JOY of LIVING Podcast Brings Bountiful Beings who are oriented to helping the World. The Podcast is downloaded over millions of times every year and SHARED World Wide. Listen and tell everyone You know. The JOY of LIVING exists for one reason only: YOU.

The show features some of the most remarkable people on the planet and is heard and shared by hundreds of thousands of people Globally. Why? Because they Care. And it helps.

Sharing is Caring. SHARE = Spreading Happiness And Rejuvenating Energy.

Share with Family. Friends. And especially with people who are not yet friends AND people who You think don’t like You or You seemingly don’t like. Build bridges based on JOY, Happiness, Peace & LOVE. Together we’ll build a brighter world.

MOMENT Of LOVE

The Moment of Love ™ is a 2-minute insight into ideas that matter. Each delivers a positive, purposeful powerful message in a FUNN way. Yes, purposely Spelled FUNN this way…it’s my 4 Letter FU Word.

OK…I think I get it. Barry believes he has ways that can make MY LIFE Better. Right? Right. And not just better but GREAT.

LIVING in JOY makes YOU Happier and Healthier. And Wealthier. Who doesn’t want that?. What do You want ME to do?

Simple: Listen. Watch. Learn. LIVE. Share. Repeat.

Swimming Around the World… Imagine…

How I learned to swim is a fantastic story. Imagine, being a quadriplegic, totally paralyzed from the neck down and now swimming 2 miles per day, 6 days per week. Yes, I use assistive devices. There are Floaties on my legs, so I don’t sink. Paddles on my hands because my fingers don’t close. And I use a snorkel for breathing.

But I SWIM! 100+ minutes without stopping. I didn’t/couldn’t do that when I was a “civilian”. As of Summer 2022 I have accumulated….hold on to Your seat….enough miles to swim ⅓ of the way Around the World. Yes. Over 8, 600 miles.

Oh. Here’s an AMAZING part. I use a waterproof MP3 Player (the FINIS model… bone conductivity if You please) and listen to inspiring music, classes, and my own recorded insights. They really hold water! (ok…enjoy the tongue in cheek)

I understand that each day is a GIFT to be cherished. I am focused on sharing my JOY of LIVING with the World.

So how did I learn how to swim? With a Book. A Video. And a Friend.

Let’s start with the Friend. His name is Vince and he’s a neighbor. One day my caretaker bundles me up in the wheelchair and brings me outside for a ‘stroll”. On the street in our leafy cul de sac Vince sees me, comes rushing over and says “I know what happened…i’ll have You up and walking within a year”.

Now I’m a believer in the power of positive thinking and am open to trying. Especially since I’m in this situation for more than a year and not even close to sitting up by myself let alone walking. So, when he tells me that he’s the greatest aquatic therapist in America and that water therapy can help I’m in.

Fast forward a number of months until we found a facility with the special lift to get me in and out of the water. Vince and his TEAM of 4 other therapists were eager to work with me and find the MIRACLE. They were young and determined and upbeat.

I had flotation devices on my legs. Floatation devices on my arms. A flotation device around my middle. Then 3x/week for some 35-40 minutes each session these dedicated people moved my arms, my legs, and tried to revive some spark in my nervous system. No one gave up for about 16 MONTHS.

Until one day I managed to move my arms over my head and lo and behold moved my body in a Back Stroke. I was SWIMMING!

I hit my head against the pool’s edge and shouted for JOY!

And didn’t stop the swim for the next 98 minutes. That’s right. They clocked it at 98 minutes. I just kept going because I didn’t want to stop.

I swam a mile.

Talk about EXHILIRATION! There was applause at the pool. There were high fives amongst the therapists. And I was beaming.

No. I wasn’t yet walking. I still was very much unable to be weight bearing on land. In comparison to walking on land, forces were reduced in water by 63 to 70%. The water experience changed my physical, mental, and I dare say, spiritual orientation.

Here’s the very long story in two sentences. I continued swimming 1 Mile 2x then 3x then 5x/week. Within 2 years I was able to swim on my tummy with floaties on my legs and paddles on my hands and a snorkel for breathing and swim 2 MILES per session.

Yes. It’s a MIRACLE.

Now my Goal is to swim around the World. To do that I want a partner. And together we will each swim 2 Miles/day and accumulate 1,000/miles per Year.

Here’s the BEST PART:

I want my partner to be Michael Phelps.

We are both dedicated to Mental Well Being.

We can raise Millions of Dollars at 2 cents/mile.

And we’ll encourage a few other Celebrity People to JOYN us in raising Awareness around Mental Well Being.

IF You know how to help Connect and make this happen. Please reach out.

Celebrating ME

So MY benefit is a better Life. More Happiness. Better Health. Even more Money. More of what I truly want. Right? Right.

What am I supposed to DO now?

JOYN the JOY Of LIVING Community (™).Encourage others to do so.

Watch the Videos. Do the recommendations. Then Dive Deeply into the next Videos.

And LIVE in JOY. Daily.

Sincerest best wishes for Continuing Success in All Endeavors.

Barry

PS: Here to Serve. We welcome Your input. Keep those cards and letters coming. Do Share. www.barryshore.com

Your Thoughts, Words, Deeds Matter and Make A Difference.

Be Well. Do Well.