Staying Thankful
I always wonder if we have a dream and it comes true, will we feel it all at once or will it take a while to sink in? Today I got to have a tiny bit of that feeling when I opened my new Entertainment Weekly and there on a page somewhere in the back of the television section was my picture staring back at me announcing my upcoming show The Lair. OK, well, I wasn’t technically staring back; it was me overtop of anther guy about to stick fangs into his neck but, still, it was a picture of me.
At first I was like, Dude, you have been in magazines and shit before, who really cares. But then it started to sink in that little old me was in Entertainment Weekly. It was such a great feeling because it was something that I have dreamed about for a long time. Then I started thinking about the new television show on Spike that I just filmed called Murder, and the fact that I will be doing Debbie Does Dallas: The Musical starting in August at the Key Club, which is a huge venue on Sunset, and all of the sudden I was just overwhelmed that maybe my dream is coming true.
I closed my eyes and tried to take it all in so that I could remember each step of the process because I don’t want to forget a thing. Success is not like winning the lottery. Sure, there are a few lucky people who have their dreams handed to them in an instant, but most of the time it’s years and years of work slowly building to a pinnacle. I think that a lot of time people reach that pinnacle and don’t know how it happened, and then they end up taking things for granted. We dream to have money, or to have fame, or to have a great job, or a great relationship, and then, after years of working to achieve those goals, sometimes we forget to look around and say, Damn, I actually have what I wished for.
Now, if you’ve read the book or seen the video The Secret, you probably know that one of the ways the book says to achieve new goals is by being thankful for what you have. Simple concept, yes, and to most intelligent people reading something that Oprah says will change your life seems kinda trite, but in fact this time I have to say it’s true. Being thankful for the moment makes you realize that you are actually achieving your dreams because it makes you look around to see the things that you have actually achieved. I think that’s why many celebrities only have those 15-minute successes, because they forget how hard they worked to get there, and when they start taking it for granted, that’s when they become unlikable and kinda separate themselves from the rest of society.
Look at someone like Jesse Metcalfe who just a year ago seemed to have it all. From nobody to soap star to hit prime-time star in what seemed like overnight. In actuality, I’m sure he auditioned for years before getting any break at all, and then when it came he kinda just became an ass and took his journey for granted. He was bitchy on set, earned a bad reputation away from the show, did some movies that he didn’t help promote, and seemed to have an arrogance surrounding him that was not likeable. Now, all of the sudden, he’s out of a job and yesterday’s news.
And it’s the same thing with celebrities like Beyoncé and Jennifer Lopez. They seem to have forgotten that struggle to succeed, and the human factor has melted away. When people can no longer identify with them, when they become machines, people actually want to see them fail. Someone like Kelly Clarkson hasn’t lost that yet. She still manages to be appreciative and surprised by any success that comes her way. I mean, she named her first album Thankful, for God’s sake. I think people want to see her do well whether they like her music or not because she’s someone they can identify with, Which is something I hope to be able to take into my own life.
So the moral of the story here is this: Yeah, it may just be a little photo in Entertainment Weekly, but it’s something that I have always wanted and I am so grateful for at this moment because a small part of my dream has come true. Be thankful for what you have now and hopefully more great things will come. Blog Hard!
It’s always a business doing pleasure with you.
– Dylan Vox
(OK, the answers from last week. I was so sad that only a few people attempted the answers here that I’ve decided to give you all another try. And yes, Scrooge did have a boss. Most people answered on MySpace, so the answers are posted there if you really can’t wait, but I promise to post them here next week.)
