Spinning Out

I love watching figure skating. The great skaters have a powerful combo of athleticism, immense technical ability and soaring (no pun intended) artistry. Scott Hamilton, who won a gold medal and is now a commentator, said something on a recent telecast that really struck me. After a skater landed on her butt, he made it clear that it's not that you fall, it's what you do after you get up.

So actors, can you apply this to the excitement/anxiety of auditioning? Let's say you mess up. Do you pull the covers over your head while smoking hoping to do yourself in? Do you drink yourself into oblivion? Do you allow the negative voices to mercilessly berate you saying you should give it all up and go home to Arkansas where you belong? Or do you pick yourself up, feel the disappointment, ask yourself what you can learn and what you might do differently (without obsessing) and MOVE ON? Please don't beat yourself up until you're a bloody mass of insecurity and despair. Hey  it's all about Recovery. Put down the whip!

Scott Hamilton must have fallen on his butt thousands of times. And over and over and over and over he got up, made adjustments as necessary, kept going, and eventually won the gold. The guy knows what he's talking about. You can keep skating on thin ice, or you can train your mind to work for you, rather than against you. You can recover faster - and more intelligently. Really!