The behind-the-scenes you'd never see

I'm in Minneapolis for the last leg of this Power of One. The hotel staff has been very helpful, the room looks great, our stage is set, the audience is excited & the show is underway. On the surface, everything looks well-practiced and efficient. You'd never know that 7 1/2 hours prior to showtime, Dr. Riekeman's flight was canceled, all the rental cars in Cedar Rapids were sold out, and he had to take a taxi 30 min back to Iowa City before he could make the 5 hour drive to Minneapolis. (Remember story problems in math? You can do the math on that one.)

We love doing the tour. When we go, there are 4 of us that travel together - Dr. Riekeman, Brenda Boone (Tour Coordinator), Dr. Deb King (Director of Development), and a Student Recruiter (either Jenny Cotton or me). We get to see people we know and meet so many more. The Tour is fun, hard work, tiring, and fulfilling. It will sound trite, but every city is different - there's a different feel to the venue, set of logistics challenges, number of attendees, vibe to the crowd, and a new set of stories of our adventures.

Putting on this show in city after city has provided a great lesson for me in how to 'show up'. Every city has its challenges - the event rooms are far apart and we don't have enough signs, the LCD projector doesn't work, the room is too small (or too big) for the crowd we're expecting, the ceiling is so low that when Dr. Riekeman is on stage he has a 4 inch clearance, the directions to the hotel are incorrect, or in the case of this past trip, Dr. Riekeman's canceled flight.

The point is that despite these obstacles, we followed the basic rule "Always do your best." (Any Four Agreements fans out there?) In doing so, we raised our energy and intent to the next level, and have impressed audiences across the country. It is a rare case that anyone other than us knows about the small amounts of chaos behind the scenes.

What are the small, circumstancial things that are 'behind your scenes'? What kind of difference would it make in your day if you could keep yourself from focusing on the negative & move towards the positive? How good would you feel & how much would it impress those around you?

I know, it's easy for me to say, but I just want to let you know that I'm working on minimizing and controlling how my behind-the-scenes chaos affects my interactions with others & my daily life. (How's that for making a public notice of accountability?)