Tony Sunday Makes Me Stop and Think

It's Tony time and I have to admit as I child - I was a freak at this time of year. The house had to be quiet while I dreamed in front of the TV of winning a Tony award...someday. Those were big dreams for a young kid from Texas, but one I always hoped would occur.

Well, that never happened...but a friend recently told me I need to stop and look at my successes and not simply think about what I have NOT achieved.
So taking her advice, I thought I'd not only 'think' of those, but share them on my blog with others. (You never know if something you do might inspire someone else to look at their achievements too!)
~I just returned from a very successful school tour for my kids book Chicken Boy and always have such a wonderful time talking to the students. It's amazing when they get the message of the book and share their own connections to autism.
~Last week, I heard from a teacher at my high school alma mater that my book Proud Pants has been added as a Psychology IB Summer Reading Assignment. Sweet!
Patinkin '89 Broadway~In the summer of 1989 I got to see Mandy Patinkin perform his one man show at the Helen Hayes Theatre and actually jumped up on stage with him. Who knew 25 years later I would be interviewing him about his career and that very same concert. Thrilled that I got to do that for Broadway World.
~Theatre is in my blood and as much as I love writing, I still also enjoy performing and directing. I'm returning to directing a musical in the fall and the exciting thing is...it's a musical about WRITING a musical!
~In 1995, I attended the Paper Mill Playhouse with a well known reviewer (who has always been so encouraging about my writing career) as he reviewed The Secret Garden. If only he would have told that young man that 18 years later, they would pass in that same lobby again and this time I'd be there to review The Little Mermaid . 
So maybe I never won that Tony. That's not to say I still don't enjoy watching the awards on television, but thanks to people around me - I can still feel like a success even if I never got that little silver award. Do yourself a favor...view that glass 1/2 full. Write down the accomplishments you do each day no matter how big or small they may seem to you. We all do things in which we can take great pride!