ACT LIKE YOU'VE BEEN THERE BEFORE

My very first job was selling glow in the dark necklaces and bracelets at Knott's Berry Farm. I was 16 and being behind the scenes at an amusement park was crazy cool, but was also revealing and somewhat disappointing at times.  I got to meet Elvira backstage one time after a show and without her big wig and make up, she was actually really beautiful! Not that the character she played wasn't hot, I guess I just had a thing for redheads back then. I kind of wondered if she had ever done anything else besides the whole Mistress of the Dark thing and maybe just didn't recognize her. Cassandra Peterson was my first real celebrity encounter and I walked away from it realizing that she's a normal person just like me and she just happens to have a job that's cooler. I've had all kinds of jobs since that 16 year old kid worked roving retail at The Farm and now I find myself with a job much like Elvira.

I'm a normal guy. I'm just like anyone else. When it comes to being stuck in traffic, I get stressed just like you. When I hear bad news or good news, it affects me emotionally like everyone else. So why can't I celebrate like everyone else? Why is it when I have accomplished a great task in my line of work and I want to share it with my friends to be encouraging to them and share the joy, that some people give me slack for bragging? And just so we're clear, I'm not talking about my other actor friends...these are friends that have said things like "Act like you've been there before". I find that really funny...to use the word "Act" when trying to put me down. I know what these friends are saying though and I completely understand the mentality.

It's like football! The coolest running backs walk into the end zone and simply hand the ball to the ref. They act like they've been there before. There is no celebrating for them. It's a job. They get paid to put the ball in the end zone. They work hard all year, running up and down mountains and having a strict weight lifting regiment so that when the season starts, they're ready to punch it in. Boom! Done! Kind of reminds me of the super awesome running back named Barry Sanders that played for the Detroit Lions when I was a kid. This guy was probably the greatest running back of all time! I say probably because he retired just shy of breaking the all time rushing record. He was at the top of his game and one season away from having it all. He sent a fax to let everyone know he was done. Boom! Done! The sporting world was shocked! BUT WHY? He didn't get paid to break records right? He got paid to play football and score touchdowns. He did his job well and he was done. He walked away. Want to know why he quit? The "culture of losing" had gotten to him and it robbed him of his competitive spirit he later admitted. He also said that he had tears in his eyes the final game of his last season as his team lost. He knew that they would never reach the Super Bowl and it was pointless for him to continue playing. He said he sobbed for 3 months afterwards.

Those that spend their life celebrating nothing, end up living a life without celebration. If you want to tell me that I should act like I've been there before, then the next time you get stressed because you're in traffic, stop being a baby and act like you've been in traffic before! Barry Sanders didn't celebrate touchdowns or care about career records and stats because all he ever wanted to do was win a Super Bowl. He hadn't been there before! His lack of celebration burned him out! Are you going to tell a woman who's had 4 kids not to celebrate and feel joyous after giving birth? We all go through certain labors and pains and the end reward is worth celebrating. You need to celebrate if you're going to attempt to try it again. Most of you don't know the sacrifices my family and myself make so that I can continue to do what I do. If I book a commercial or get a movie/tv role and we get happy about it and want to share the good news it's because we understand that acting like you've been there before doesn't work for us. If you think that we're bragging, then OK. I have a really cool job and I'm sorry, but being on TV is cool! If being too cool for school works for you, that's great!

I'll also say this. Sometimes acting like you've been there before, or basically showing no emotion at all and excusing it as "It's a job" is a way to cope with your fear that you may never get there again. It's okay to be afraid. It's the fear that holds you back but can also propel you forward if you use celebration as the whip to tame it and your desire to succeed to guide it.