“To get anywhere, you have suit up and show up. That’s half the battle.” I detested that phrase growing up. Then, I turned around and used it on my own kids. It wasn’t the fanciest of mantras,  but it’s a powerful one. It took me years to understand how important it was, the act of putting on the gear and arriving someplace. Over time, it applied to everything. Still does. I may not be skilled at all things I try or do… but if I’m dressed for the occasion and standing where I need to be? Half the battle. The rest is all about the doing.

I’m a gray-haired woman over the half-century mark and I recently had someone comment about “all the stuff” I do and asked how it all happened. <insert perplexed face here> dear reader. How it all happened? Uhmmm… I just suit up, show up and do. None of came easily. As an actress, I go on a lot of auditions and don’t get a lot of them. As a lifestyle model, I’m not everybody’s cup of tea. As a writer/producer/director, I create a lot of projects and not all of them see the light of day/reading lamp (or darkened screening room).  But, I keep going. I keep doing.

Not all the doing in life is easy. Which is why,  you have to suit up and show up. Truly, getting there is half the battle. Notice the phrase ends with the word battle. It doesn’t talk about fun or anything fluffy. Battle.  Say it out loud. It’s sure not a pretty word. In fact, the synonyms of battle are nasty words, too: fight, clash, struggle, fray, combat, duel, etc. Oh, and you can’t engage in one of those babies without grunting, sweating or getting dirty. When you get down to the business of doing, you’d better be ready.

Once you’re prepared mentally and spiritually for battle, you then have to put on the appropriate armor and head out to wherever  the fight, clash, struggle, fray, combat or duel is scheduled.  At this point, you’re so far in that all that’s left is to win or accept defeat — but, man! The idea that you came that far, is crazy-impressive. Impressive. Now, there’s a word with much nicer synonyms: magnificent, majestic, splendid, spectacular, awe-inspiring, etc. Win or lose, still impressive! Like the athletes at the Olympics. Heck, even the athletes that came thisclose to their ticket to the Olympics are impressive. Some of them missed the target by seconds or millimeters, but their effort and performance, still crazy-impressive.

We’re not going to get a shot at every gold metal/statue/standard we desire. Wayne Gretzky, a guy who was pretty good at his job (hockey, I believe it was), has sometimes been credited with the quote: “You miss every shot you don’t take.” Nobody can really agree if Wayne said it or Michael Jordan or some other Excalibur professional sports figure, but that’s not important. What is important, is that almost every topnotch individual at the top of their craft would agree. It’s the mindset of a guy like Thomas Edison, who said “Genius is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration.” It has the scent of Suiting Up and Showing Up all over it, doesn’t it?