Monday Morning Motivation:
Quit Yer B*tchin’ And Bloom
Where You’re Planted! (VIDEO)
Monday Morning Motivation:
Oh boy. Good Enough Mother is feeling kinda feisty today. I guess I’m a bit prickly because I’m on the run; as you read this, I’m winging my way to LA to tape another top secret TV pilot. (A quick aside: there are times I have to pinch myself; going from no TV shows to two, Sweet Retreats and Exhale, with the potential for a third, is sort of mind-blowing.)
Anyway, today’s Monday Morning Motivation is spurred by a couple of things, the first being the death of actress Jean Stapleton.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_F3Ic1-Lvhc[/youtube]
Jean Stapleton played the role of the long-suffering Edith Bunker, whose husband Archie was played by Carroll O’Connor. The show centered around the family, Archie Bunker and his bigoted, politically incorrect views on the world. It ran for several seasons becoming one of the highest rated sitcoms of all time.
In an interview years later, Stapleton said this of her long career:
“I wasn’t a leading lady type,” she once told The Associated Press. “I knew where I belonged. And actually, I found character work much more interesting than leading ladies.”
She knew where she belonged. She knew where she excelled. She knew where she was appreciated.
The reason that stuck out to me is a conversation Ella and I had last week. I was telling her about meeting a woman a few weeks ago who was an administrative assistant. She was telling me about her job, that it paid well but she didn’t really enjoy it. She had a college degree and felt that, well frankly, the work was beneath her. So I asked her one simple question.
“Are you good at what you do?”
“Yes. Actually I’m damn good. My boss really needs me and the office runs well because of me.”
Her sentiment was a familiar one, and one that I’ve heard nearly my entire career in television.
I wish I had a dollar for every really GREAT reporter who was dying to be an anchor. Guess what happened when they got there? They just weren’t that good. The gift they had that made them great, they shunted off to the side for the “lights” of the big gig.
Please don’t misunderstand what I’m saying. It’s okay to have dreams, goals and aspirations; hell I still have them. What is not okay is being miserable until you reach them, as if achieving that is the panacea to your problems.
The advice I gave my administrative assistant friend and the reporters dying to be anchors was this; learn what you can while you’re there prepping for the next role. Don’t be in such a rush that you totally discount your talents and gifts.
You don’t have to decide, as Jean Stapleton did, that you’re not a leading lady. Instead maybe, decide to lead where you are… at least for the time being.
What do you think about blooming where you’re planted?
More from GEM:
