Norman Vincent Peale Was Right

I'm so glad I didn't write this blog three days ago as I had originally intended. It would have been a vent, a rant, a pity party and an overall downer. I was having a rough week. My show is less than six weeks away, and I was without a costume maker, the other costume I ordered hadn't arrived, and thanks to Otterbein's spring break I felt we were woefully behind our marketing strategy.

Here it is Friday, and I have found the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. In fact, I've shined my own light to blaze a whole new trail. How did I do it? A shear, visceral, good old-fashioned powering through. I was thoroughly wallowing in misery Tuesday, wondering why I had begun this foolish endeavor and asking myself if it was still salvageable.

I think it's important to let yourself wallow once in awhile. If you don't, you're living outside of reality and I think that stifles your intestinal fortitude. I'm not a religious man, so the Peale reference is not entirely apt, but I am a religious believer in positive thinking. It does not stand alone, however. If the positive thinking is not accompanied by positive action, it is rendered inert.

So after the obligatory wallowing, I mustered my courage and got on the phone. After some vigorous calls, texting and even a few emails, we have flyers printed and some distributed, we are days away from printing tickets, I have a costume maker who is eager to have at it, and I even picked up a potential external reviewer for the performance. External reviewers (outside Otterbein) are necessary to legitimize this exercise as scholarship and professional development.

The other costume still has not arrived, but I had reached my attitudinal nadir, and I am now rebounding famously. The costume is a blip right now. It will happen, because I will it to happen. I have worked too hard and too long for this effort to fail. It doesn't matter how you get there. If trusting that God will find a way works for you, then so be it. I rely on the supernatural power that is within me, and that works for me.

So I trudge on like a ground soldier, knowing there will still be myriad obstacles to face. Undaunted, I will survive them all because I choose to. Every one of us has this power. It's up to you to figure out how to tap its resources.

I still have one goal for 2012 that I have yet to achieve, and I'm sorry to inform you that there are only two people on the planet who know about that goal, so I can't reveal it. Unfortunately, I have no control over the outcome of this one, so I must believe with all my heart and trust that eventually my work ethic will be rewarded. And then if it still doesn't happen, I am not a failure. Only the task has failed. And that I can live with.