Impossible

Warning: True story alert.  For people who have been reading my blog a while, you know how the Greek Girl rolls.  I call it like I see it and do not accept the "status quo".  So for people who are perfectly happy to accept things as they are, well this blog might be a little uncomfortable for you.  Anyone else grab your favorite beverage and read on.

The past week had been well... let's just say I've had better weeks.  I'm sure you can relate.    Everyone has at some point or another experienced times when the road to getting to where we want to go can be a bit difficult.  Normally when people tell me no, or that something can't be done, I just stuff my ears full of cotton balls and go "la la la la la"...  Onward and upward.

However in this instance it just irked me.  I was considering new representation for my acting (and my music or so I thought).   Well... what else is Greek Girl going to do while Mr. Bricks is off doing his "Rat Pack of Hollywood" books?  Someone has to bang down the doors to get me my record deal dangit.  So anyway I was having a phone conversation with a manager I met through a friend.  Not an A list guy, but definitely a step in the right direction.  To make a long story short, the following is how the conversation went:

Manager: "So how old are you?"

Ava: "How old do you want me to be?... (laughing) well, how old do I look - you have seen me in person up close.  Do you want my real age or my actor age?" Then I tell him my real age.

Manager: "Oh, wow I wouldn't have guessed that."

Ava: "Thank you."

Manager: "Well, I can't do anything for you with music.  You are too old, the gate keepers do not allow new artists to be your age."  "So I would rather focus on your acting, then after you get some notoriety, then maybe that can open up an opportunity." 

I'm sure you can imagine what my inside voice was saying.  Seriously... "Do Not Allow" Um when did people start "allowing" anyone to do anything anyhow?  Are we talking about pre school here where we have to ask permission?  Note to such "gatekeepers".  People who buy music (you know the ones who are not buying the crap you keep putting out artist after artist) they do not give two flying flips how old the artist is who is singing the music.  If it makes them feel something, they like it, it's that simple.

Why not look for music that makes you feel something first, then worry about how to market it.  Putting the package ahead of the talent is the downfall of the entire music industry.  Setting up this unspoken rule that no new female artists are allowed above the age of 28 is utter insanity.  I predict that if the music industry continues to churn out, use up and spit out the same thing year after year, it will not only continue to see losses, but it very well could be it's undoing.  When "executives" who do not know their ___ from their elbow, are sitting there making decisions, meanwhile grammy wining producers are selling jingles to make a living because they can not even get a meeting at a record label these days...  that is a problem.

Needless to say I did not sign with the new manager.  My point in telling you all this is so you can have an idea of what was going on inside my noggin when I saw the video I'm about to tell you about.  So the following morning I'm scrolling through my facebook newsfeed when I see a video titled "Never Ever Give Up".

By the end of the video I was in tears.  Not only because it light an even bigger fire in me to reach my own goals, but because it reminded me that nothing is impossible for anyone.  No matter what you desire (for me a record deal) but it could be a new job, a mate, fly a plane, be a ballerina, be president, run a marathon, get out of debt, be cured of cancer, whatever you can imagine... and yes even to lose over 140 lbs, if you have it deep down in your gut.  If you know like you know like you know you know, and you believe in yourself, it IS possible.

I've been at this a long time, and I am not about to let anyone tell me that it is not possible.  All of us can do whatever it is that we put our minds to.  It all comes down to your will.  How strong is it?  Do you hang in there when the going gets tough?  When everyone tells you that is can not happen, it's been too long, you do not have the right contacts, the right background, the right this, the right that, blah blah blah.... I want you to do like I do.  Stuff you ears full of cotton balls and go  "la la la la la I can't hear you".  

I wrote my newest song "I Don't Even Care" because if this exact thing.  A few lines: "Don't let them tell you what you're gonna be or gonna do - don't make a left don't make a right just look in front of you".  The message is simple: Don't let other people tell you what you can or can not do and keep your eyes focused on the goal.  Just like the man named Arthur in this video, a Military Veteran.  He tapped into his will and was able to defy the odds and do what everyone told him was impossible.  Everyone had given up on him, and he had listened to them for so long, he had even given up on himself.

But because of one man, a professional wrestler and yoga teacher named Diamond Dallas who believed in him, Arthur started to believe in himself again.  He found his will and focused on his goal until he reached it.  I wish that more people would be like that yoga teacher.  To be the one person who believes in someone even when they don't believe in themselves anymore.  Help someone to see that nothing, no matter how big is impossible.  Hope you have a beautiful day!

Blessings, Love & Music ~
Ava :D xox
www.avaaston.com

Turning a Blind Eye

It breaks my heart to know she was all alone.                                                   How could anyone walk by a helpless hurting creature and not do something... 

Life, it's the most amazing gift we are all blessed with.  Each and every day we are faced with choices, these choices help define us.  As little or as big as these choices may seem in the little moments, they effect us.  It can be something as simple as if we decide to floss every day or if we will marry that special person or take a chance on a lifelong dream. 

We make hundreds of choices like this every single day.  The question is will we make the right choice when faced with something that otherwise might seem like a burden?  Will we make a choice to assume someone else will take care of that problem?  Or are we going to stop for a moment and realize that sometimes God the maker of all things puts something in our path for a reason, maybe to test us, or to see where our compass is, or how we are going to react when faced with the uncomfortable choices.  Choices like, will I swallow my pride and apologize to that person I held a grudge against when I cross their path two years later.  Or will I offer to walk with an elderly women I don’t even know across a street instead of making it home in time to watch the game.  Or what about when you arrive at a dumpster and find an abandoned dog who is covered in dirt, full of fleas and matted hair.  Will you just turn a blind eye and hope someone else will be inconvenienced or will you take that moment to realize, “this dog is here for me to care for.  This dog is created by God and is suffering.  Maybe God put this dog here so I can care for it and find it a better home.”  Or will you turn a blind eye on this blind dog?

I ask because many of you know the Greek Girl loves & adores animals.  There are very few things that upset me more than to see something so heartbreaking happen to a helpless animal.  Some people argue that they are just animals and it doesn’t matter.  But I have to argue that God made that dog for a reason.  That dog is His creation and the decision to walk by and ignore it is an expression of your character and God sees everything we do.

What are you talking about Greek Girl, that is nonsense?  I am a good person and I just don’t like dogs or am afraid of them.  Someone else who is better suited to care for them will come along and help!  Sorry, but you can’t be more wrong.  It’s like the clerk behind the counter who is working three jobs to support her family and is not smiling because everyone is mean to her.  Then you come up and have a choice to be mean and dismissive or offer her a smile that can brighten her day.  Or the man you are angry with that is in the waiting area allowing his kids to run around crazy may just be oblivious because it’s the only way he can allow his kids to deal with their dying mom in the hospital.  You see things aren't always what they seem, and how we chose to react matters. 

I bring all of this up because I was moved to tears when I learned about Fiona.  Fiona is a sweet and amazing girl.  She is a precious creation of God’s and she was abandoned in a dumpster.  Two amazing people gave their time and money to help her in her time of need.  When they found Fiona she was dark gray and covered in matted hair with a terrible flea infestation.  Not only that but she was 100% blind in both eyes.  Now because two people were willing to be inconvenienced they were able to give this little girl a new life, and a new beginning.  It’s kind of like how God sees us.  He sees us as lost in a dark and cold world.  So He sent his one and only Son to die for us in order to give us life and salvation.  Yet so often so many are left in the wilderness like Fiona, until one day you may come across that lost soul and help bring them up out of life’s dumpster.  The amazing thing is the vet was able to bring back her sight in one eye.  Just like Fiona and God’s children we too were once blind but now we can see.  So why is it so many of us don’t see what God is trying to do when God puts life’s Fiona's in our path? 

Fiona once was blind and now she can see because someone didn’t turn a blind eye.  Because someone took the time to do something.  Please watch this amazing story about the beauty and the love expressed in a simple act of selfless sacrifice by this amazing couple who took the time to help.  After you watch this video please take the time to learn more about Audrey and Eldad Hagar, their organization and what they are doing to help God's hurting creatures.

 http://www.hopeforpaws.org/

Blessings, Love & Music ~
Ava xo
www.avaaston.com