Sunday, September 2, 2012

What Happens After Your Contest

by Kris Pitcher

You made it to the big day! You even made it through your show without falling off your shoes, out of your suit or down the steps of the stage. Celebrations take place. People give you flowers. Meals are enjoyed...Now what?

Now you are completely and utterly lost. You find yourself without direction and purpose. You feel sad, depressed even and you've eaten yourself into a dizzying stupor. You watch your body disappear in literally 48 hours...yes, the one that took you 5 months to get.

Where do you go from here? Many people find themselves wondering what happens after their contest. What I wonder is where they've been all along?

Here's what I mean. Our journey is our destination. The destination is not the actual show. It's not the physical contest, that 12 or 16 hour window of time when you present yourself which is the destination.

The "destination" is our journey - our whole journey not just one day. The entire process getting us there, what we learn about ourselves. It's what happens along the entire way. The journey is our destination.

Once our journey has been completed...we start another one. Whether we transition to an off season plan, back to a "regular" family life, or pick another show date - we embark on another journey.

Thinking about the process as culminating in just one day sets us up for mental failure, for depression, for loss and confusion. If you have a show date coming up, you still have time to wrap your head around this concept.

You have time to see the destination all around you as you are on your journey, right now. It's not one day on your calendar in front of you. It's right now. You also have time to wrap your head around what your journey will continue to look like after that day. That day doesn't end things for you.

So, what happens after your contest is all up to you. It depends on if you are able to see your journey as your destination. It depends on if you can see that one day as just that, one day, along a path of many. Where will your path lead next?  

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