Embrace Your Limits and Be in The Moment

What am I doing with myself and why is this happening now? These questions can haunt us especially if we find ourselves not moving forward artistically and not having a clear purpose.  As a performing artist, you will inherently deal with uncertainty.  

This is a part of the game called life and is especially true for the performing artist.  It’s different for us, particularly if you are a part of a niche art form like myself.  

I love what I do but this world we live in doesn’t always provide.  There is no point in wallowing in your sorrows or beating yourself up.  This doesn’t make life easier it just exacerbates the frustrations we deal with.  We must accept this as a part of life and make a choice in how we deal with it to bring us to a place of strength.

This means being in the moment. There is nothing wrong with being dissatisfied, as a matter of fact, dissatisfaction can be the catalyst for great ideas and be a vehicle to produce change.  But what do you do if you feel stuck?  Don’t let things spiral out of control, confronting these feelings and issues are important and necessary.  

There are certain things that we can do to bring more stability to our lives and we also have to accept the fact that there are times (many times) that we will not be able to control what happens in our lives and that’s okay.  We can work on how we respond to life and can empower ourselves with making better choices when we stop trying to control everything and take inventory of what we want and assess how our life is at the moment.

Here are my thoughts regarding this typical problem called life and being stuck:

Life is filled with uncertainty. Nothing is permanent, nothing is promised. 

Open your eyes and see the now and beyond the now.  Easier said than done, right!?  However, it’s true nothing is permanent - the good and the bad things in life are not going to last forever. This is the reality of a broken world.  Bad situations or circumstances have the power to really bring people down. Having a perspective outside of your situation is going to help you deal with these setbacks. We might not be able to control everything in our life but we do have the power to control our perspective and look towards the future.  

Take a moment each day to cherish the gifts in our life like -community, family and our basic needs met.  However, it is important to remember that these things are temporary and that it is not guaranteed for everyone, not even yourself.

Get specific.  

The first step is awareness. You have to be aware of yourself and your situation in order to be able to identify what you have and what you need.  For some, it has to do with work and money.  For others, it has to do with relationships and finding the right people. If you are unhappy and want change. It’s time to get specific and confront these things.

This is not as easy as it sounds.  Getting specific is something I am constantly working on. It is a part of the journey of life and is an incredible skill that will really make a difference when it comes to decision-making.  Much of our life is determined by the decisions we have to make so let’s make it our business to know what we want and why.  Give yourself permission to make sound judgments and respond and not react.  Not everything in life has to be done immediately.  Sometimes we do need to make snap decisions but this is something that doesn’t occur all the time, but we sometimes think we need to based on the situation or based on our emotions.  Taking a step back allows you to take command, make the best choice and help you consider your options before making a decision.  This is something that everyone has to do.  For performing artists, this is crucial because many of our decisions affect our wellness, our work and our ability to communicate with our audiences and colleagues.

For example, if you need to earn more income you first need to find out where and how you are spending your money.  You will have to figure out how much you need to spend and save.  The next step will to be make a decision on what work you need to do to earn enough money to have your basic needs met and save money for a rainy day.  This will look different for everyone.  Do not try to “keep up with the Jones” or aim to live like a celebrity or fancy what society or social media deems as the perfect life.  Be realistic and take the right small steps for yourself, do not concern yourself with what others have but on what you need to make your life better. 

Each step will culminate to the next step.  Be in the moment and observe what is happening, how you are feeling and who you are interacting with.  By being more present you will notice opportunities to advance and other options that are not what you need.  Make a choice to commit and observe, is the choice serving you and how is it affecting others? If it is not working then you need to change.  If something or someone is not serving you, you are not obligated to stay stuck with that person or situation.  Be bold and courageous and do what is best for yourself.

Understand that it takes time. (Ugggghhh, who has time for that.)

I have to say this is the hardest thing.  Particularly if you are dealing with a storm in your life or you want something really bad and have been waiting for a while.  Being present in the moment and identifying what you have and being grateful for what you have is important and can be frustrating all at the same time.  If you are wanting change, patience and having all of your professional materials prepped will allow you to be ready when an opportunity arises.  

Keep a positive mindset and be a part of a community to network and provide support.  If you are isolating yourself you will have a harder time trying to change your situation.  Having people on your side will allow you to find different outlets and opportunities. 

Time passes by much faster when you have a schedule. Do not forget the importance of having a routine and take care of yourself physically and mentally.  There is a lot of power in having a routine in practice. It doesn’t have to be exact each day or perfect but you need one to give yourself purpose. 

Let go of trying to hold on.

You cannot choose all the aspects of your life, that’s true for everyone.  Let it go. Of course, you can continue to aspire to your dreams or ideal situation, but you also need to be in the moment and work towards having your basic needs met and live your life. If you have what you need it is always easier to pursue your artistic goals and level up to bigger and better things. If you are too consumed with controlling every part of your life you will drown in dissatisfaction.  Don’t do that to yourself.  If you accept the things you cannot change and acknowledge this limitation you will feel a great weight lifted off your shoulders.  You will feel freer to live and to be happy.  You can give yourself permission to be happy because there is absolutely nothing you can do to change it.  The audition results or to make that person happier or make whatever situation go away it’s not your responsibility or role.

Even though life is unpredictable and we all have limits, we don’t have to be stuck.  Appreciate the moments you have, it can always be worse 99% of the time.  Continue being active with your community- you never know what your network can provide. Don’t forget to enjoy what you do have and let go of the things you have no power over.

We can always work towards greater things while appreciating what we have. Small steps each day can really do wonders. 

Go out and live your life with all its imperfections.