I wish I could take credit for this pearl of wisdom, but it was coined during a sunny day in the French Alps by one of my good friends Charlie Aprahamian.
Now I’m going to pause here as Charlie is currently approaching the end of mammoth 1,000 mile cycle ride, raising funds for new developments at Home Orchard, which is a care Home for Adults with Learning Difficulties.
If these blogs have bought you any value I would please ask that you visit their Just Giving Page and strongly consider if you are able to offer any financial support this worthy cause. Thank you in advance…
https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/homeward-bound-for-harriet
“Life’s Not All Smiles and Sparkles” became the catchphrase of our two week video shoot out in the French Alps late last year.
It was an incredibly special trip, full of amazing moments filming in the mountains, one I know we were all very grateful to have shared (me in particular, thank you Will, Charlie, Jimmy and Celia!).
But like anything else, it wasn’t without difficulties and challenging moments.
A busy production schedule meant there were days where we worked from before 8am right through to the very early hours of the morning. And then got up and did the same again the next day.
The extreme cold was a real challenge for the camera’s and a constantly changing production plan meant we didn’t really stop working for the whole two weeks.
A two week trip to film in the mountains must seem like a dream. And you’re 100% right it is.
I know there wasn’t one moment when we lost sight of how lucky and grateful we all were to be working on that project.
And of late a key thought has been constantly on my mind, it’s the key takeaway of this blog…
My intuition says that if you are in position where you’re able to be able to chase your dreams, you have no right to complain about what you’re going through*.
If you have the luxury to spend your working life pursuing your own ambition, you can’t for one second have the audacity to complain that you’re tired because you worked over the weekend, haven’t had a day off for a month or have to miss out on a social gathering because you need to finish a project for your client.
I know that people currently in jobs they don’t fully enjoy as well fellow entrepreneurs, will have absolutely zero sympathy for you. Remember, busy isn’t a brag.
(Read more about that here… https://medium.com/@JackTompkins/busy-isnt-a-brag-ccb07d0fccf3)
I feel when we look back, our minds have a tendency to only remember the good parts of an experience and to me that seems a very dangerous thing.
During the happiest times of my life I know there was a combination of intense highs as well a lot of low moments too.
As mentioned before, everything can only be defined in relation to what it’s not. A good day is only good because it isn’t bad.
We need opposites and extremes. Days without smiles or sparkles are good, because they mean you can truly enjoy days that are of full of them.
I’m currently trying to save to buy a house and in order to work towards that goal I’ve been taking on a lot of projects that are better for my bank balance than they are for my soul.
And don’t get me wrong, I’m still very grateful to be doing what I’m doing, but perhaps of late work has been more of a slog, than full of smiles and sparkles.
It’s a parallel I can draw to my creative experience too. Looking back, I know the projects that today I’m most proud of, were often the ones that were the toughest to produce.
So remember, sometimes life isn’t all smiles and sparkles.
I wish you every success.
Jack
*I’m sure this a thought I’ve paraphrased and learned from Gary Vaynerchuk, loving reading his latest book, link below if you’d like a look…
‘Crushing It’ — by Gary Vaynerchuk — https://amzn.to/2t13pmR)
About Jack
I help people, brands and business communicate more effectively with their customers through visual, audio and written content.
I do this through Southpaw Sport, the sports content marketing company I’m currently building as well as on a freelance basis working for agencies and production companies.
Visit www.jacktompkins.co
You can follow me on YouTube where I post videos sharing my experience and opinion on content production.
YouTube — https://www.youtube.com/user/jackt18
And my social media for behind the scenes look at what I’m up to
Instagram — @jackwrtompkins
Twitter — @jackwrtompkins