Bouncing Back From Life And Pageant Problems
Written By Dr. Stephanie Raye
Whether it is in pageants or in life, sometimes things don’t go as we planned. Take me, for instance. My plan was to blog at least once a week. But shortly after I began, some sort of crazy attack happened at my web-hosting company and my site, and 100s or 1000s of others, went all wonky.
Has anything gone wonky for you?
Did you set out to get pageant fabulous and something didn’t go right? Maybe you started a fitness program and then suffered an injury that set you back. Maybe you started to get involved in developing your pageant platform just to have something change at work, home, or school that took all your time.
How did you respond to the set back? Did you handle it like a queen?
For me, various helpers (bless their hearts) plugged away at fixing my website issues. (Thank you!) But the troubles didn’t end there. It took weeks to fix it, but after that I got pretty sick for several weeks. Then this happened, then that. So, here it is almost 3 (hard to believe!) months later and I am beginning again.
What are some lessons here? A queen always does well to learn lessons wherever she can.
Keep at it – don’t give up.
Life often hands us the unexpected. Sometimes it is a genuine opportunity to turn toward something better for us, but often it is a distraction we must overcome or avoid. If your passion is to compete, win, or bring attention to your platform (if your pageant has one), then don’t let just anything stop you.
For me, I could say “It just isn’t the cards for me to blog, etc.” But that would be defeatist. I know I have something to offer that pageant contestants need to enrich their pageant and life success and it’d be selfish of me to give up that easily. Simply start again.
Acknowledge your emotions, learn from them, and then move on.
When we don’t do what we say we will, or don’t do as well as we’d like, we can feel embarrassed. Maybe you thought you’d win your pageant, but didn’t even place. Maybe you feel funny telling your friends or sponsors the results. Or, worse yet, maybe you are doubting your own abilities and wonder if you should compete again.
It’s up to you, of course, and you’ll want to reflect on it…but I’d say “YES!” Try again. Or at least don’t stop because of a perceived “failure”, a set-back, or pride. Get back into the ring and go for it! Though, of course, realize that you may benefit from more, or different, pageant preparation. I’d encourage you to use my Pageant Interviewing Success Made Easy program. It’s a real winner and will help with far more than your pageant interview.
Ask for help. Or at least realize that you aren’t alone.
Maybe it is something you can handle on your own, but, if it isn’t or it’d be better, easier, faster to ask for help, then ask! It can be tough but we all need, and give, help at different times in our lives. We should be there for others and allow them to be there for us.
And whether or not you ask for help, remember that what you are experiencing is not new…others have suffered set-backs too. So whether you go it alone, or work with others to help improve things, remember that many other folks—including your fellow pageant contestants—are dealing with things too. We all have up times and down times. Let’s do our best to support ourselves—and each other—during those times.
Learn what you can. It helps in interviewing and in life.
As I mentioned, a queen does well to learn what she can from whatever happens. Building the habit of finding lessons in life events will help you with your pageant (and career) interview skills. Personal questions about your past won’t catch you off guard if you’ve thought about what good came out of the negative things that have happened. It communicates authenticity and emotional maturity if you can respond positively (but honestly!) about obstacles, mistakes, or set-backs.
This isn’t just “spin”, this is about really appreciating the textured truth of life–good and bad often arrive together. But sometimes we have to pay extra attention to find the silver lining when there are some bad events or times.
I’ll try to help you with your pageant interview success, and general professional/life skills, through the materials I have available on Amazon and this blog, on YouTube, etc.
So, yes, I’m starting to blog again or form a team that will help me do so. I’m aiming for a post a week, maybe more. So sign up for the “RSS” feed (look for the icon in the side-bar) which will let you know when I do. You may be as curious as I am about whether or not I will make my weekly goal. :-) Wish me the best, as I do you!