Saturday, May 14, 2011

Gully jumping - get out of the ditch!



Life is full of highs and lows - we get sidetracked into the ditch and have to find our way back to the road we are meant to travel. We need to jump out of the gully.

This past week I ran into a roadblock. It made me realize a few things & make some changes.

I have a cornea condition called, “Cornea Dystrophy”, a disorder that clouds up your vision and creates a constant burning sensation.  It’s a problem that heals and then comes back. During the times that it is acting up like this last week, it makes it difficult to focus on work through the pain and struggle of trying to read a script.  I always fight through it & manage to get everything done but it seems to be twice as hard to accomplish. I always tell myself that I am lucky and that things could be much worse.  What if I were a Pilot?  My career would likely be put on hold or even over. First realization. 

When facing a hurdle, it is natural to run for the ditch and give up. It’s too easy to just let the frustration overwhelm you causing you to just walk away from your project. Second realization. If you make sure to take a short break when you feel like that and then get back to your project - it will run much smoother and you will feel better. My days were difficult while dealing with my eye but when I would take just a few minutes to rest it, it made all the difference. When doing voice-overs, If you are dealing with pain or discomfort, don’t force it to happen when it’s not there.  Your frustration can lead to a dissatisfied client because they will hear it in your recording.

Third realization. We are all dealing with struggles at different points in our lives. It is the way we look at those struggles, our attitude that makes or breaks us. When facing a challenge, find a way to jump out or around it. What can you do differently?  How can you manage your time, so that these types of hurdles don’t get in the way of delivering excellence?

There is always a detour around every roadblock and you might even enjoy the scenery.





3 comments:

SWade said...

Good words for my week, Terry. After a successful, nearly 4 year run at writing and producing for Page Productions (Food Network shows) the project is coming to an end. As a freeIancer, I got kind of comfortable knowing I didn't have to find work, that I had a project to go to every week and a good one at that. I've learned a ton in those years and I'm way more marketable than I was just a few years ago. My first inclination is to jump into the ditch, give up, say it's time to look into another career. OR I can realize that this is the beginning of a new, even greater project. I just have to show up for it.

Paul Ludenia said...

I have been thinking about many of these same things lately. I always say that it's not how you are when things are going good, it's how you deal when things aren't going so smooth.

This may be a stretch, but I was watching my cat play with a toy the other day. She wouldn't just play with it, she had to push it under things so they were just out of her reach. Every time she (or I) finally got to the toy, she'd play with it and push it in another difficult spot.

Almost as if the fun isn't when the toy was accessible, but actually, when it was just out of her reach.

Again, maybe a stretch, but it made sense to me. =)

Your words help because it's always nice to know that you're not the only one - right?

I hope your eye gets better, and if you ever need help or anything, just let me know.

Thanks Terry!

Terry Daniel said...

Thanks for your comments, guys! Paul, we'll see you in a couple of months!