Winning
Last week my daughter and I were hanging out and I asked her if she would give me some feedback on a few videos for an important project. She’d been my voice of reason even though sometimes the information’s not always easy to receive. After reviewing for a few minutes of the first video, she asked, “Why are you whispering?” I retorted back that I wasn’t and she preceded to imitate my voice and intonation. We started laughing and couldn’t stop. Okay, maybe she had a little point, but I didn’t think it was as bad as she was saying. As the second video was being reviewed, she claimed I whispered again and imitated my voice and words. We laughed throughout the evening. I mentioned I would be meeting with my colleague and friend and I would get her opinion as well. I was confident she would like what I had completed.
Before asking Hannah to review the videos, I had basically finished the project and handed it over to my colleague/the person I hired to zhuzh up and put the final touches on. Two days later my colleague and I met and I started telling her about what Hannah thought of the videos and I admitted I probably needed to redo a few of them. She wanted to hear all of Hannah’s comments and then it happened. She thought the exact same thing. I’m pretty sure the words that came out of my mouth were, “Are you kidding me?” I could tell by her body language she didn’t like giving me the dreaded news anymore than I liked receiving it. In response I put my head on my desk and moaned.
I couldn’t believe I’d have to redo some of the videos. She preceded to tell me the information was great, but my delivery didn’t sound like me. Then the next bomb went off. She gently advised that I redo all of my reflection videos (a collection of videos I completed over a period of time). I about…..fell off…..my chair. The problem with the reflection videos wasn’t the content or my voice but rather the way the camera was set-up. It was filmed vertically and they needed to be filmed horizontally to fit the project.
I wanted to drop to the floor, curl up in a fetal position and cry. Well, maybe not quite that dramatic, but I wanted to cry on the spot. I’m proud to say I held it together. I felt so overwhelmed I’m not sure I heard anything else she said. Leaving the call that day, even though I felt sick to my stomach, I knew in my heart her and my daughter were right.
For the next few days I was in a funk and a fog. I didn’t know where to start and I was feeling very defeated to say the least. After shedding a few tears, and feeling sorry for myself, I felt appreciation for having the chance to get it right. I was starting to get my wobbly self back in the game. “You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it” - Maya Angelou.
I don’t want my project to be good, I want it to be freaking AMAZING! That my friends means doing the work until it’s worthy. Even though I have a lot of work ahead of me, I’m thankful I have people in my life that care and love me so much they’re willing to tell me the truth; especially when I feel it coming from a place of love. That to me feels like WINNING!
xoxox…..Sheryl