Natalie Wood - What You Say Is What You Get





As a Hollywood actress, Natalie Wood was best known for her roles in Miracle on 34th Street, Splendor in the Grass, Rebel Without a Cause, and West Side Story. She started her acting career at 4 years old and had received three Academy Award nominations before she reached 25. Her life abruptly ended when she died at the age of 43 by an accidental drowning in November of 1981.


Born to Russian immigrant parents in San Francisco on July 20, 1938, she spoke both English and Russian. She had two sisters and was the middle daughter. As a child, her mother Maria would take Natalie to the movies and have her sit in her lap. Warren Harris wrote in his book, Hollywood’s Star-Crossed Lovers “Natalie & R.J.”, that, "Natalie's only professional training was watching Hollywood child stars from her mother's lap.”


Harris also wrote that Wood said, “My mother used to tell me that the cameraman who pointed his lens out at the audience at the end of the Paramount newsreel was taking my picture. I'd pose and smile like he was going to make me famous or something. I believed everything my mother told me.”


Natalie’s Mothers words were powerful. So powerful that Natalie herself believed she was going to be a famous movie star herself. Before her untimely death, she had been in over 50 movies, dozens of television episodes, received 3 Oscar nominations, and won over 20 different acting awards. As if that were not enough, Natalie also received her “Star” on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, further proving What You Say Is What You Get..


Another example of her words was written by author, Gavin Lambert. In his book, “ Natalie Wood: A Life” he writes that a year after their wedding, Wood expressed her feelings to her husband in a letter to him that read in part, "You are my husband, my child, my strength, my weakness, my lover, my life." Words are powerful. I believe these words are also very revealing as to her continued relationship with her husband Robert Wagner and her later drowning dealth.





It was not a secret that Natalie was deathly afraid of water. She had always believed that she would die by drowning. Again showing how powerful words are. Lana Wood, Natalie’s sister said “dark water” also held a special sway over the actress, because her mother had told her she would "die by drowning, and by dark water." According to Wood's sister, her mother had told them this from a young age, and had scared Natalie Wood enough that she avoided going into deep "dark water" ever since.


Natalie Wood believed her Mother’s spoken words for the rest of her life. Everyone who was close to her knew Natalie didn’t like water and she didn’t keep it a secret. Lana Wood said her sister “hated” the water all the time and that Natalie wouldn’t even go into her own swimming pool at her home.


The only time Natalie would go near water was with her husband, Robert Wagner. Water had been a part of their relationship since the beginning. Wagner wrote, "I remember the instant I fell in love with her. One night on board a small boat I owned, she looked at me with love, her dark brown eyes lit by a table lantern. That moment changed my life." After they had divorced and Natalie had divorced her second husband as well, her and Wagner reunited on the Queen Elizabeth II, a boat traveling from New York to London and announced their intention to remarry. When they married for the second time, they tied the knot on a yacht off the coast of Saint Catalina Island, ironically the same “dark waters” where 7 years later Natalie would drown.


The circumstances surrounding her death have longed been a mystery. The official report says she died by accidental drowning. Such strong words were used by Natalie when it came to Robert Wagner and her fear of water. She said Robert was her “weakness” and it certainly was when it came to him and water. Their life seemed to be surrounded by water. She never went near it unless with Robert. Regardless of details of how she died and the mystery surrounding that fatal boat trip off the coast of Catalina Island in November of 1981, one thing is for sure, Natalie died exactly the way she said she was going to. Her words were very powerful. Her words came true.


When you tell yourself something over and over for years and years, your mind starts to believe it to be true. The universe will maneuver itself to make those words happen. What You Say Is What You Get. This was the case for Natalie Wood. A wonderful life cut short. It is too bad she couldn’t have received the counseling she needed to get past her fear of water so the years of bad energy surrounding water didn’t end up defeating her in the end.


If you have a fear that you are suffering from you need to try to move past it. Stop thinking and speaking negative energy. You are probably making it worse than it really is. If you are constantly thinking something bad is going to happen, it usually does. Maybe not right away, but it will usually catch up to you. Remember that your words are powerful and What You Say Is What You Get.


Chris Coltran is the president of C2 Coaching & Training and is available as a keynote speaker, presenter or trainer for conventions, retail, wholesale, manufacturing, distribution, management, affiliate, mlm, executive, real estate, marketing, advertising, banking, direct sales or entrepreneur annual association meetings. Chris is a professional speaker and keynote speaker, author, coach, management trainer, sales trainer, and business development expert.



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