Lessons in Goal-setting and Graciousness

Hey everyone!  Happy belated Valentine's Day!  I hope yours was a wonderful as mine was--thank you wonderful husband.

So, the last week has been very stressful for both Jordan and I, and we've had to take it one day at a time to avoid being too overwhelmed.  It all ended up okay, just glad its over.

Here is  a lesson I learned:

1) If you have a goal in mind ahead of time, you are more likely to accomplish it.

This sounds silly, but its true!!  Having a specific goal helps you to know if you've achieved it or not.  "Doing well in school"  is general, but getting higher than a C on an upcoming calculus test is more focused.  BTW, Jordan got a B+ (holla!)

I have had a musical theatre competition looming for the last two-three months.  I hate competitions.  I never choose the right material, and they make me very nervous.  I know they aren't that different from auditions, but somehow, I get more skittish around the word "competition."  Anyway, my former teacher encouraged me to do this particular one, and I agreed, only to quickly regret the amount of stress it was causing.  "I'm too old for this!" I thought.  This is something I did in college....not now.  But, alas, the application fee had already been paid.  So, I thought about my goals..... what did I want?  Well, I didn't want to be cut off at the 5:00 minute time limit.  I wanted to feel like I had done my best.  And I wanted to win second place.

Why second place?  Because, the second place prize is $1000 dollars.  The first place prize is more ($2000), BUT I'd have to represent AZ in the national competition in Texas in May.  I'd have to do this all over again, but with more pressure.  I'd have to go to workshops and classes, and compete and a whole lot of other things I didn't want to do.  So, there it is.  Under-achieving, but what I really wanted.

So, let's check the score card:

Cut-off at the 5 minute limit?--- No.
Done my best?----Yes-ish.  I sang well and my monologue was good, but my final song could have been slightly better.
Win second place with no additional responsibilities?-- YES!!


Yeppers, my silver medal dreams came true.  I was judged second best behind a guy I didn't know.  Which means that I was the best girl, I won $1000, and the only thing I have to do now is perform my selections again at an awards dinner in March!  Holla!!!  What a great day.

The second thing I learned this weekend is how to be unreasonably talented and gracious at the same time.  I watched the Oscars last night---sometimes I don't care about them, but as I had seen many of the movies up for awards this year, due to the PG-13 rating on them, I was more interested.  Generally, I don't care about speeches, I just want to see the dresses, who won, and watch the extras (Cirque was pretty cool.)

However, my favorite Oscar moment was a speech.  When Colin Firth (admittedly a Hollywood crush of mine) so eloquently paid tribute to each Best Actress Nominee, I couldn't help but hope that the winner would keep up the classy composure that he had when presenting.  And boy did they ever.  Meryl Streep--quite possibly my favorite actress of all time-- gave what is in my opinion, the best acceptance speech ever.  She seemed genuinely surprised, she could laugh at herself, and enjoy the moment without seeming fake or haughty.  She started her thanks with her husband, which I found both refreshing and very romantic.  I loved it.  Our husbands should be the first people we thank :)  Thanking her "other partner"--her makeup artist, was also a touch of true class.  Many actors forget about the behind the scenes people who make them look and sound amazing.  She did not.  And then to graciously acknowledge her friends and colleagues was heartfelt and down to earth.  She was honored, but not starstruck by the almighty Oscar--she seems to see the reality of what she does, and truly enjoys it.  I can only hope to be that elegant and gracious in my life.

Here's a video of her speech: Meryl Streep's Acceptance speech

So, there you go.  Time to practice better posture, more eloquent speaking, and how to age that well. :)