Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a better celebration than I did last night. Mine was spent at work. That, in itself; wasn’t the problem, I volunteered to work. Even the revelers weren’t too out of control, except for the girl who I had removed from one of my tables before her insides came outside of her body and the Australian guy who I told that he would be escorted out of the establishment if he kept throwing the menus. That stuff I can usually deal with.

There were other things, which I won’t go into, that really upset me. My attitude was completely in the toilet. It was probably a fitting wake up call on the first day of the New Year. BUT I usually have a way of making lemonade of the lemons that are in front of me. Amidst the extreme frustration that I felt I learned something. I learned that my general attitude and drive (practically every other day of the year) is one of my greatest assets. Of course, I am aware of that in general, but periodically I think it’s good to see the contrast of a good, positive attitude in action. It showed me how rare it is that my attitude is that bad and for such a sustaining period of time. That rarely happens to me. There is no way I could be a functioning individual if last nights’ feeling was a regular occurrence. No way. I’d self-destruct. It was eye-opening and things have to change…and they are.

I’m looking to make some serious strides this year and really use my talent and drive. Mentally, artistically, financially, personally, even philanthropically and any other way I can be a positive force in this world.

I had a customer the other night say a few things to me that I could have easily taken the wrong way. One of which was that I was “lazy and wasting my time toiling around Los Angeles”. Of course he’s completely off the mark about me being lazy, but I think I understood the wasting my time part. He made a few other comments too. I looked deeper at where I think he was coming from and believe he was complimenting me in a roundabout way and telling me that I should be doing much greater things than what he sees me doing. It’s easy to say that to someone, but I believe that he thinks I have what it takes to be at “that level”. I think he’s right, in fact, I know he’s right. Relatively few are going to make a living in the entertainment business; he believes I’m one of them. He doesn’t know that I paid my bills solely through performing for 7 consecutive years. I’ve been there and I’ll get back there.

I also got my yearly review at work that, on the surface, I didn’t really agree with, but again you make lemonades out of lemons. The seemingly not so positives were taken, by me, as compliments for very different reasons. Yes, I value my employment at the night gig, but I didn’t move here to sling burgers. My dreams and aspirations are so much bigger than that. My drive is bigger than that. My talent is bigger than that. Everything about me is bigger than that…and eventually the results will be bigger than that. Actually, the results are already bigger than that.

I’m very proud of how I’ve parlayed the situation thus far. I’ve been employed there for more than 2 ½ years and I’ve called in sick a grand total of…zero times. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve picked up the slack for other people for whatever reasons. I don’t have time to get sick and think that way of thinking keeps those ailments to a bare minimum. It’s cool; I’m used to it. It’s rare that I meet people that are willing to stand longer than myself. You’ve gotta put in the work; you’ve gotta show up.

The numbers are in and I must say that 2010 was a very successful year. No, I didn’t book as many jobs as I had hoped, but my life isn’t only about booking jobs. Overall, I definitely moved the ship forward. I think part of making things happen in the entertainment business is simply not giving up your place in line. I’m definitely holding my spot. I feel that, at any moment, things can really jump to another level for me in my acting career. I expect it.

I did well in 2010 and I got a few key things on my plate for 2011. I’ve gotta stay focused, dedicated and keep my eye on the bigger picture. I can’t get too rattled by things that don’t really matter in the scheme of where I’m going. Let’s do it!

http://www.stephonfuller.com