#DisneyMP: Regarding the waiting room. Breathe, just breathe.

Image is not my own.

So it’s been just about 72 hours since the close of Round 2. Are your nerves getting you yet? I am sure by this point you have gone over every single one of your answers, found numerous amounts of mistakes and already taken yourself out of the competition.  You have over analyzed your video. Did you do enough? Did you say enough? Was it too much? Or maybe it was too little? Just let me get through to Round 3 and I will do better right?

Sound familiar?

Well let me tell you. We are all right there with you. Relax, take a deep breath and let it out. Go ahead, I can wait.

Now that I have you back, let me be the first to say this: Give yourself a break. It will all be okay. While I too find I am anxious and nervous about Round 3. After years of going through the process I have found that while I am waiting for news, I have picked up some tips here and there.

Last year my husband bought  an Alex and Ani bracelet for me while I was waiting for word on whether I would make it to Round 3 or not. Across the trinket, the words “What’s meant for you will not pass you.”  It seemed like an odd sort of statement when I first read it, but I have come to realize just how true it actually is. Maybe I didn’t make it on to the panel last year and whether or not I will make it through to Round 3 is still to be determined. But I try not to focus on that. I try and enjoy the process day by day. I try and focus on how good it feels just making it through to Round 2 when I know several would love to get to that step. And I am beginning to believe that things have a way of working out for you when the time is right.

Perhaps I am an eternal optimist, but it helps to think this way.

Another method, which helps me, is to stay away from social media.  Don’t get me wrong I love Facebook and Twitter. And I love the people and the friends I have made along the way, including you! Please do not take offense to any of this, but sometimes during the process I need to step back and walk away from the groups and the feeds. I need to decompress from analyzing people who shared their answers and videos. Perhaps they didn't share every detail but analyzing whether 'Ohana or Coral Reef would have been a better answer can drive anyone insane.

Remember this! Everyone has a different voice, a different answer, a different way of writing than the others. It’s not to say any given individual is better than the other or that the judging committee is looking for certain styles over the other.  Nor does this mean you are automatically out because of it.  It took me a couple of years to realize this.  Stepping away also helps to really remember why I want to be a part of the magic that is the Disney Parks Moms Panel, assisting others create the same magical experiences that we so often enjoy ourselves.

I know this is not for everyone. But just stepping away, avoiding reading other people’s answers (even if tempting) has helped me not over think things and stress about whether my answers were good enough or not.

Along the same lines I will say this: Be proud of your answers; be proud of your voice. After all, that is ultimately what they want to hear. So maybe you didn’t answer the same way everyone else did. If it was how you would answer it, and if it was important enough for you to mention than you did beautifully. Don’t second-guess them. Be proud of them. Embrace them and let yourself enjoy the moments of the next few weeks.