Have you ever had to wait for something and that it seemed like whatever you were waiting for would never happen? Perhaps you are waiting for a new job opportunity? Maybe it was waiting for that special someone to ask you out. Maybe you are a couple wanting a child, but it's just not working out right now. Or maybe you just graduated from college and now are trying to find a job to put all of that education to good use. Whatever your situation may be, I feel your pain. Sometimes the anticipation and pursuit of a certain goal seems unobtainable and that is why after putting up the good fight for a few years some people just give up. In other people, that delay and struggle in obtaining a specific goal makes them more determined to pursue their passion to fruition.
In my Greek noggin I come from the school of thought that sometimes we need the lesson of the journey to be able to fully appreciate what it is we are pursuing. In my case, the pursuit of becoming an international recording artist. The old wise and worldly Mr. Bricks, who is my manager put it this way to me recently, "Ava, if you drive from New York to Los Angeles by car it will take a lot longer than if you fly, but think what you will miss along the way if you go by airplane. Think of your career as a giant road trip" I think what Mr. Bricks was saying is, "My Greek Grasshoper, the easy way is not always the best way." I get it Mr. Bricks Son, but there is no way I'm stopping off for Diet Coke and Beef Jerky on this Greek girl's musical road trip, just sayin'!
I say, as long as you know what you want to do - hold on tightly and never give up. It is OK to change direction of what you want to do in life, but just make sure it's not because you hit a rough patch. We all have rough patches. It's how you handle the rough patches in your life that matters. There is always something to be learned in everything, so running away from every rough patch is really just taking a road to nowheresville.
The music industry is a tough business and I would love to be much further along in my career, but like Old Man Bricks' has said, think of what I am learning along the way on this road trip. It burns a little in my throat to say this, but he is right. One of life lessons I have learned recently is to include balance in my life, it has helped me when things haven't worked out in certain situations. The balance comes from not putting all of my eggs in my music career basket. So I try to always keep a nice balance by having plenty of friends outside of the music business, or as we say in the industry, "normal friends." I also try to keep up on my outside interests as well.
I learned that strapping on my sneakers and going for a 5-mile run or a nice long workout helps me from dwelling on a professional disappointment when it happens. I love the feeling my body has after the run and normally by the time I'm done running, I realize the earth did not stop rotating and most likely the sun will come up tomorrow, so it's all good and in God's time. I truly believe that. What do you do to shake off the funk from disappointments?
In Greece they say, μὴ χεῖρον βέλτιστον. If you have your "Greek On" you know it means, "The least bad choice is the best." In France they suggest, "If you break an egg, make an omelet", and here in America we say, "If life hands you lemons, make lemonade." Simply put in any language, no matter what you are dealing with rest assured you will get through it, and something good is likely to be there as a result of you have to going through it.
In your noggin it may seem like what ever it is, it is "The Worst Case Scenario" of what could have happened. As bleak as it may seem, you need to realize that there is an important lesson for you to learn and you need to go through this rough patch, because remember...if it doesn't kill you, it'll make you stronger. So, if you can enjoy and learn from your destination the journey is so much sweeter. And as for the difficulties you are currently experiencing, ask yourself the question "Will this matter 10 years from now?" Most likely not, but what does matter is whether or not you learned something from the experience.
Ok, who wants to join me for a glass of lemonade?
Blessings,
Ava
xox
