Saturday August 28th, 2010 - Heading For Tampa, FL I’m starting to see how life on a ship can be a floating prison. It’s only been a couple of weeks, but I’m starting to feel the initial thrill disappear like that smell in a new car. I see all the things I’d heard are absolutely true, and it’s up to me to not let the pitfalls win out. The shows are important, but the off stage life is even more crucial to keeping with this for any amount of time. I can’t see many comedians I know doing it, only because of how lonely it can get. Most of the cabins have no windows, and are in the bowels of the ship. Other than the other comedian, there’s really nobody to hang with. We’re not supposed to hang with passengers, and the crew are all working most of the day. It’s a very solitary existence, and unless one has a rigid set schedule for the day it can be quite monotonous. I’ve tried to get out and walk as much as I can, but it’s a major effort to get it done. The passengers are out there too, and if they’re not in the way, they’re talking to me and it’s a major task to get any real exercise done unless I do it at 6am, but who wants to get up that early to walk around a ship? I sure don’t, but I’ll probably have to start if I want exercise. I’ve been out a couple of weeks now, and I’m really ready to get home for a while. I’ll only be there a few days, but it will feel good to see my friends and hang out a little. I’m actually looking forward to having errands to run and bills to pay. I’ll feel like a human. I’d heard one of the down sides of the ships is that it’s easy to lose land contacts and it’s true. The clock is ticking and the more time I’m away, the more distant everything I know becomes. I intended to be working on the ‘Schlitz Happened!’ show about Milwaukee but that’s been the farthest thing from my mind lately. I’ve still got time, and I need to do it. I have bookings in October for the show and I want to fulfill my commitments. I’m still sold on the idea of doing a local show about my home town, but I want it to live up to my standards, which I admit can be painfully high. I don’t just want to haul out some half ass bumbling production, I want it to blow people away. That’s going to take a lot of effort. How can I put in that effort if I’m trapped in a cruise ship’s cabin on the Caribbean? I’ll have to delegate authority to others, but that will make it take longer to develop. This is a good problem to have since I’m getting paid, but a problem nonetheless. I need a team of people working in Milwaukee while I’m out at sea earning money to finance the project. At least I’m thinking about it, and not just letting it rot on the vine. I still want to do all my projects, including comedy classes on line and Uranus Factory Outlet. If one of those should happen to hit like I envision, I’ll be a millionaire. I’d love to do them all if I could. That’s not very likely though. There isn’t enough time. Reality is, I’ll need to find teams to run most of the day to day operations of all these projects, but I’ll call the shots. That’s a ways off yet though. First I have to get them going on their own. I’ve got a full plate.
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Dobie! Quit indulging that negative inner voice. Tell it to get lost!
You're on a freakin' cruise ship, Dobie! Exotic ports, good money, and someone WANTS you! There are 10,000 people who would be ecstatic to be in YOUR shoes right now. But YOU got the gig! YOU!
Stop RUMINATING. You've got to tame the "grass is greener" voice. You're standing in the lush, freaking grass right now, Dobie!
By the way, you are no longer a "dented can." It's an illusion of your own making.
Challenge yourself to be only positive for 48 hours, in every way, including what you say to yourself. Then see if you can go longer.
Appreciate the moment, Dobie!
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