Every weekend I look forward to catch up on the various audition rounds of singing reality shows including X Factor, American Idol, Britain Got Talent and The Voice.
The audition rounds are of special interest to me. One has so much to learn and be inspired from. Besides good singing talent being found, it’s here that one finds most inspirational stories of remarkable people who overcome misfortunes and adversities to emerge victorious.
Their story inspires me be passionate about what you truly believe in and pursuing your passion till the very end.
Many of the auditions feature beautiful and extraordinary souls who love singing but could never make it big as they had to struggle at various points in their life, due to poverty, fear , responsibilities of family, broken marriages, lonely childhood, lack of opportunity and so on which have dented their confidence. Symbolically coming to the auditions is a victory in itself. It shows they have gone beyond their fears, stuck to their passion and are willing to try it out. They seize this opportunity, come up on stage and become one with their inner self to showcase how beautiful they are despite all their struggles in probably the only way they can express. Their Music and their singing. And when they sing, it’s not just their voice but the years of struggles and pain which is expressed in their most beautiful rendition of the song. And that lifts their audition to another level. And the world is stunned
For me it’s this pursuit of ones passion regardless of the situation on is in, seizing of opportunity, conquering one’s fears, and performing your best, is what I find most inspiring which has impacted me deeply as a person.
Today I would like to share one such inspiring story – The audition of a 37 year road worker from Raymore, Missouri(US) , Tate Stevens who appeared on X Factor 2012. The video link is attached.
Tate loves his family, which consists of his wife and 12 year old daughter. Tate loved music, was part of a band early in his life but never got a chance to make it big. Over the years, with the added responsibility of raising his kid and supporting family he put his dreams on hold and worked in the state department as a road worker. He had almost accepted his fate, as taking care of his family was most important to him more than his dream of becoming a singer. But despite all struggles he never let his dreams die , he kept his love for music intact by practicing and performing on weekends and whenever possible with his band.
And then one day thanks to his daughter, he got a chance to come on X Factor and make good his dream. If you look at the video, before his auditions, you see a composed but nervous looking Tate Stevens waiting for his turn. He is nervous because this is something he always dreamt of doing but now after so many years is not sure if would be able to deliver as he is now 37. There is a lot of hope pinned on him. But it’s his daughter who believes in him and pushes him to do his best.
As he appears in front of the judges and massive crowd, he is calm, composed and funny! He is immediately liked by the judges for his personality. He starts singing a country song. Initially a bit nervous, but then comes on his own. And as he sings, the world is stunned by his voice. The crowds are up on their feet, the judges can’t believe his voice. He gains in confidence as he continues to sing. Thoroughly enjoying his time. He sings the most perfect rendition and the crowd give him a response that he would have always dreamt of. Tears roll down his eyes as he watches the crowd wanting to hear more of him and the judges ecstatic with his voice. Don’t miss that ‘Yes I have done it’ fist in the air expression displaying his sheer happiness of having achieved it. All the hardwork and passion has resulted in true victory, The judges call him a true country music star, one of the finest finds putting him through to the next round.
His family backstage was in tears as well. They probably never seen daddy so happy and content. As he walks back with them he wishes his time on stage and the applause never ended. This was meant for him.
Period
We all have these amazing talents within us which we are so sure of, when we are young; it’s like that inner voice within, which talks to us about it. But as time goes by, work, family, relationships, money takes precedence and we slowly but steadily lose connect with our inner voice. The voice keeps telling us what we really should be pursuing but we fail to acknowledge cause we are too busy. Yes life throws up many challenges and its not always possible to focus only on your passion. There are some trade offs to be made. But it no way means that we should shut off our inner voice completely. We can still work towards it along the way. But unfortunately most of us snap from our passions for various reasons. And probably therefore many times despite being successful with lots of money we are truly not content.
Over a period of time, life presents us with multiple opportunities, to connect with our inner voice and do what we really ought to be doing in a big way. Those times either we are too busy to hear that call or we fear/ start doubting if at present, this is really what we want to do, cause we never bothered to work on it all this while. And we may lose the opportunity forever.
Had Stevens despite all his responsibilities not continued to pursue what he loved in the little time possible for himself and seize the opportunity which was presented before him in form of X Factor, he would have always remained a road worker for the rest of his life and would have surely regretted that he let go so easily what he loved the most. Thankfully he was ready.
Cause in our lives we come across sudden turn of events, which have the power to alter the cause of our lives forever. But are we ready to seize that moment.
Have we completely ignored our inner voice and are too busy with only routine things which would provide no contentment at the end of our lives. This is a wake up call. Listen to your inner voice and work on what you love the most along with all the other things one does. Cause one day when the opportunities come you should be ready to seize the moment.
Tate Stevens went on to win X Factor 2012 and a USD $5 million recording contract.
Perspectives
