Image: Paul Morris via Unsplash
“It isn’t sufficient just to want – you’ve got to ask yourself what you are going to do to get the things you want.”
– Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt (also referred to as FDR), 32nd President of the United States (1933-1945), was born on this day in 1882. He died in office on April 12, 1945, just weeks before Benito Mussolini was killed and Adolph Hitler committed suicide, and a month before the Germans surrendered. The war continued in the South Pacific until September.
Roosevelt was elected to office four times, and is the only American president to have served more than two terms. In 1951 the Twenty-Second Amendment was ratified limiting presidents to two terms in office.
Roosevelt changed the face of this nation on many levels. He led the nation through a time of war, and through his “Fireside Chats” was the first president to communicate directly with the people on a regular basis. Domestically, he is remembered fondly by some, and villified by others for his expansion of the government. I’m not going to get into that here.
Regardless of your opinion of Roosevelt, he knew how to get what he wanted. Early on, he determined where he wanted to go, and he got there.
That’s true for all of us, whatever our goal, whatever our dream.
You know, or should know if you’re a regular reader (and if not, why not), that I am on the path to establish myself as a full-time writer and part-time actor.
I’m doing both part-time right now, and that’s okay. It may be a long time before I’m able to walk out of that day job. I’ve talked about that before.
But, I know what I want, and I have to be about the business of doing what I need to do to get there.
I have to write every day and I have to audition on a regular basis. Part of that is spending time finding those new opportunities.
It doesn’t matter if editors reject my work or casting directors make the wrong decision.
I have to keep going.
If it’s not this publication, it’s the next one.
If it’s not this show, it’s the next one.
And I have to do all of this while juggling all the other aspects of life that must be juggling.
Sadly, Ringling Brothers is closing, so the juggling skills, while necessary for life, aren’t going to pay.
I know what I want to do. I know, for the most part, how to get there.
It’s not enough just to want those things.
I have to keep working at it.
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