Clear your mind first.

As an artist, something that I struggle with is being overly emotional and reacting to situations before taking a breath. At this point in my life it is important for me to focus on this and try to learn to be aware of emotions that could lead to poor choices. I know myself, and I know this will be a lifelong process that I will fail at more times than I will succeed.

Learning to breathe before making a decision takes practice. There have been times during my career when I wanted to throw in the towel for many different reasons. Work was stressful, I wasn't getting cast in the roles I felt I was right for or perhaps I was just having a bummer of a day. I am happy that I didn't jump off of the boat prematurely.

When I had seasons in which I wasn't used as much as I would have liked to have been, I always gave myself one more year in order to see if situations would change or remain the same. Several times I was delighted by the opportunities I was given, and I cringe to think how awful it could have been had I let my emotions get the best of me and bailed out too early.

Patience is something that everyone can afford to work on regardless of their profession. It doesn't always pay off in the way we would like for it to, but in the end, I believe it is rewarded in some way. Of course, it may take years for that reward to roll around.

For now, I will continue to try to count to ten before making a decision, then run it by the people whose opinions I respect the most and try not to make any irrational choices. Above all, I will learn to breathe.