Be Water, My Friend

"Empty your mind. Become formless and shapeless like water. When water is poured into a cup, it becomes the cup. When water is poured into a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Be water, my friend." - Bruce Lee

I love this quote.  It embraces adaptability, and I'm learning that is the key to true success.  In Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway, Dr. Jeffers also describes how crucial adaptability is to success.  She says after you make a decision you should:

1.) Throw away your picture (your expectations)
2.) Accept total responsibility for your decisions

and

3.) Don't protect, correct.  It is most important to commit yourself to any decision you make and give it all you've got.  But if it doesn't work out, change it!  Many of us are so invested in making the "right" decision that even if we find we don't like the path we have chosen, we hang in there for dear life.  To my way of thinking , this is the height of craziness.  There is tremendous value in learning you don't like something.  Then it is simply a matter of changing your path. - Dr. Jeffers.

The one thing that I've learned from this journey is that I can adapt to fit my situation.  And it had to be the weight loss that taught me this, because this is the major accomplishment in my life.  Having and raising great children, working, writing and even marrying are certainly the prides of my life, but yet not as crucial to my self enlightenment as how I am sculpting and molding this body, mind and spirit.  It's the hardest work I've ever done.  What I do for others, that has never been the issue.  I was raised to be a martyr by the Queen of Martyrs, my mother.  My religion taught me that it was selfish to think of things like personal success, it was vain or prideful to want to be physically attractive.  So for me to work this hard on something for myself is monumental.

And note its origin came from a place of selflessness - to stick around and raise my kids.  It had to, I was no where near prepared to stand under my own power and think I could do it on my own and for me.

I'm getting there.

And how I'm doing that is learning how to strategize my life.  If something doesn't work, it doesn't mean I quit it altogether like I used to.  I just forge a new path.  And if it doesn't work I'm no longer a slave to routine.  When something ceases to be effective, I try something new.  I'm not afraid of trying and failing anymore, because I know the true source of failure is when I cease to try.

Case in point, my rather interesting afternoon.  Last week I read that Reese Witherspoon wants to do a horror flick.  Last week I fired off a letter to her agent to let him know that by wonderful coincidence, *I* have a horror script.  I described it in small detail, prayed over it and sent it off.

Today Steven answers the phone and then hands it to me saying it's someone from the William Morris Agency.  For those of you unfamiliar, this is one of the Big Five agencies in Hollywood.  I nearly had kittens.

Turns out the agent's assistant called to let me know that they didn't accept unsolicited material unless it had a money offer attached, so in essence it was a thanks but no thanks but I'm still as jazzed about it as can be.

This is a Big Agency, and they called me to tell me no personally.  I can't tell you why but it makes me feel like I'm finally on the road to making it.  I used to just sit on my dreams, but now I'm taking chances (and writing the agent was a very slim slim slim chance indeed) and I'm making progress, even if it's to try another path.

I'm like water.  If one thing doesn't work, I'm unaffected and try something else.  Used to be the last few years I would go into months of depression that I didn't make the quarterfinalist round of the Nicholl Screenwriting Fellowship competition - the Big Contest that is associated with that little Gold Guy.  Now, I'm bouncing off the rejection and forging ahead - adapting, not quitting, even way before I know if I made quarter finalist or not.  And even better, I have a plan of attack no matter if I pass to the next round, or get two nice little rejection letters.

I'm going to make a sale this year, they just don't know it yet.

In fact, consider THAT my daily affirmation.

June 27
Calories: 1908 / 22% fat
Water: 72oz
Exercise: Free Day

RED means I didn't meet goal
*Projected