Why American Idol Criers Are Wrong

So much preparation has gone into this moment. The dreaming and wishing and hoping. This is the moment when the dream could become reality.

So when the audition doesn’t go how the hoping did, what then? Many cry. Many feel sick. Many get angry.

American Idol Criers are distraught and heart broken. I think they’re wrong though. I wish they’d embrace their failure.

If you think that you only have one chance–one shot to “prove yourself”–you’ll always be disappointed. If all your energy is focused on that single project going perfectly the first time or that big meeting simply opening all the doors you’ll need, something is off.

What American Idol Criers forget is that they can pick themselves. They can do their art, share it, and work hard. Mariah Carey is one person. Sure, she might have some valuable insight to learn from (and she certainly does), but if you let her opinion alone destroy you, then you’ve really failed.

So the choices:

1) You can choose to believe you’ve completely blown it. Your one shot didn’t work and everything is over. You may even blame others (“they made a bad decision”) or completely give up on the future. This is what lots of American Idol Criers choose.

or

2) You can choose to try again. Learn from the feedback and mistakes. Embrace your art even more. Go read the biographies of the Beatles, Jay Z, Picasso, or Michael Jordan for inspiration and a how-to on doing art in the face of criticism. Put in more hours. Realize that the failure isn’t really failure, but an indication that you might be on the right track. Be honest with yourself as well-if it truly isn’t your thing, something else is and you can still pick yourself.

Please choose the second option.