The Comeback. Shane Hodge

      On an average day in face book I see “In a Relationship with” … Next day I see “It’s Complicated”. I read entries like “Mum and Dad don’t understand me” or “ I hate my customers” - kids replying to parents with the most hated word in America two years in a row “Whatever”. I can see the flirting between friends of friends. I can see online nastiness and bitching. Face book is the Tabloid of Choice for the voicing of script problems of us, the everyday people. If you want to have some fun just spend ten minutes trolling through your own face book or twitter messages, read it with a different set of eyes and you will see the direction some of your friends are taking wrongly or rightly and maybe even for you. With over 550 Million users face book gives a solid overview of strangers, friends and family scripts that are not running in the direction they maybe should be. But let’s zero in on you.

      What’s your Life script that is not running according to your Directions?

      Is it the Partner that doesn’t understand you? Is it Body you’re not happy with? Is it the Kids that drive you nuts? Is it the Job you can’t stand? Is it the Business that’s not running smoothly? Is it YOU that’s just plain unhappy? To Comeback? You have to know where from.

      Was it good once?

      Every part of our lives we write a script and original screenplay of how we will direct it. The script may be in your head, it may be written it may just be words that you have spoken, but we have a script and people, places, circumstances may have affected that Original Script along the way - and it’s not turning out to be the Blockbuster you originally planned.

      When the script for the movie Back to the Future was written and it was five weeks into filming, the Director felt it was not going to work with the actor who was playing the lead role. He changed the script, hired Michael J Fox to play the lead role, re-filmed the whole picture and the Movie grossed well over 350 million dollars and went on to make two more sequels.

      When the Original Star Wars Movie was written, famous characters like Darth Vader were not as high profile. Just before filming started the Director George Lucas changed the script, made Darth Vader a pivotal character and the rest is History.

      Changes in Script is not limited to movies, Joanne (J.K) Rowling who write the incredible Harry Potter series of Books was turned down by no less than 12 Publishers before she found one that took a gamble. They decided to run a small print of 1000 Copies. Harry Potter books have sold a lot more than that!! Before this happened, Joanne Rowling was broke and a single mother; her script was rewritten.

      Walt Disney the father of Disneyland was told his cartoon character Mickey Mouse wouldn’t be successful as it would “Scare Women”. He was also told Disneyland was a bad business idea. Walt Disney had to change his script and Disneyland and the Movie Production Company are famous - as for Mickey Mouse? Well kids all over the world fell in love with him.

      Akio Morita and Masaru Ibuka were two struggling engineers who made a rice cooker that got a terrible reputation for bad quality and a habit of burning rice. They changed their script and Sony was born.

      So for you and I, just like George Lucas, Walt Disney and Joanne Rowling, when things are not running smoothly and we want to create a blockbuster or maybe even shelve a project the first step of that process, and an integral part of the Comeback is to take a look at the script we are working and living with.

      What do I mean by script? Some circles call it a mission statement or Vision statement but I like to call it a script.

      A script is described as: “A written version of a play or other dramatic composition; used in preparing for a performance”.

      I like that description as to me our lives in whatever we do can be a performance -Drama or comedy!

      Now whatever we are trying to achieve in our lives, our relationship, our health our Business or working life we have a script attached to it. As I have stated before it can be written, thought, even just spoken about. But in all cases we have set the scene for the performance and if it’s not going as planned and too many scenes are being shot without you the Director calling “CUT”, well we need to take a look at the script and possibly make some adjustment.

      Now I’m writing this book so I haven’t got you laying on a couch in a comfortable office in person telling me about the highs and lows of your life performance and the good or bad scripts that are causing that. So we have to look some examples and then you can start to fill in your own Drama or Comedy Scripts and the things that want to make you scream … CUTTTTT

      Let’s look at our Children? Ah bless them so wonderful and cuddly when they are born, butter would not melt in there mouths but then they grow up, walk and talk and then…Well trouble can be brewing and in my case being divorced and a long way from them both physically and emotionally for so many years it’s been rough ride to relationship heaven with my kids.

      The script I had written in my head for my relationship with my own children was pretty well based on the old tried and true method of parenting that being, “I’m your dad so by virtue of my parent rights you will love and respect from the time your born till the time I die and that settles that”! How wrong could a guy be?

      The children on the other hand had an even better script and that was “You terrible man you abandoned us when we small, you cheated on our mother, you never came to see us, you had so many girlfriends and you even forgot our birthdays and Christmas, so what do you care or know about being a dad”!

      Wow, big difference in scripts, can you see that? So for years I had been running around thinking “that’s my script” and could not understand why I could not communicate with my children, why they didn’t want to speak to me, why they were not excited to see me. Well it just made no sense at all! As for my kids they would have an instant huge wall set up on any occasion we would see each other, as that is what their script performance demanded. Can you see the problem yet?

      Problems with Performance as a Parent? Take a look at the Script, ditto with your Kids.

      Brothers and Sisters can also be Interesting performances.

      When I arrived back from living overseas for so many years, one of the first shocks to my system was that there was nobody to meet me at the Airport. I couldn’t understand it, in all the years of living overseas especially China each and every flight I would be on there would be a cast of many people waiting for me when I landed. Chinese Family and friends all excited, they would do the traditional Chinese thing and take all my bags off of me, offer me a cigarette and then proudly take me home or to a hotel. There would always be a special dinner that they would pay for at some wonderful hotel the night of my arrival. And Now at Melbourne Airport I’m alone fighting with Taxi drivers!

      You see what my script was? I was the Brother who “believed” he was important and should be treated as such. My good old Australian way had a new script written with ‘Chinese subtitles” and I expected to be treated that way.

      I sat around for days expecting to be picked up, barbecues to be held in my honour and why am I paying for my Hotel room? Where is the respect from my brother and sister that my part demands? The calls never came and I ate a lot of KFC and McDonalds.