So … after receiving about 137 emails from various friends/readers about Oprah’s Your OWN Show contest (most with subject lines along the lines of “APPLY FOR THIS OR REGRET IT FOREVER!”) I decided - with exactly 48 hours left in the contest - to throw my, uh, pink cap in the ring.

To be honest, I didn’t do it earlier because … well, I think I was scared.  How lame is that??  Hosting my own show has been a (totally cliched) dream of mine for YEARS, but lately, I’ve shelved it.  I suppose my subconscious thought was “I don’t want to want something if it’s never going to happen” which is really just another way of saying “I don’t want to get hurt.”

You know, it’s funny - sometimes, and especially as we get older, it becomes easier not to chase after your dreams, because then, if you don’t get them, you can excuse yourself with a bulls—t, “Well, I didn’t try, so obviously I didn’t get it!  Can’t blame me for not trying!”  And what you’re insinuating, of course, is that had you bothered to make an effort, you would have gotten whatever dream it was you desired.

Except that’s just not always the case.

I’ll tell you: I try and try and try and I fail and fail and fail.  All the time!  In fact, back in March I decided to apply to Stanford Business School (another dream of mine) - took the GMAT, got the recs, wrote the painstaking essays - and guess what?  Didn’t get in.  RE-JECT-ED.  In fact, that’s the THIRD time Stanford has rejected me (once as a freshman, then as a transfer, and now lucky number three for an MBA.  I have a talent.)

Did it suck, being rejected?  Absolutely.  But I was proud of myself for trying.  It would have been easier not to, let me assure you.  And I ALWAYS would have wondered had I not sent in that application.  (btw, anyone know a really easy program to get into at Stanford?  Hmm. Maybe I could go into custodial services there. I HAVEN’T GIVEN UP ON YOU YET, PALO ALTO!)

This video is much like that. I’m not in denial: the odds of me getting this are slim at best - but I would have always wondered had I not participated.  Putting it out there is my way of forcing myself not to give up on this dream, and I hope the next time you have an opportunity to either try something or not, this inspires you to do the former.

At the end of the day, what’s the WORST that can happen?  You don’t get it.  You cry.  You feel like a loser.  And then you get over it, because frankly, had you not tried - um, then you wouldn’t have gotten it anyway!

To bastardize our good friend Eckhart Tolle: “Life hands us whatever crap rejections we need for the evolution of our consciousness.”

So, with that, please do vote for me … I only need 8 million to tie Zach for first place. Totally doable!  ha

And if you tweet, facebook or reblog this on your tumblr, I’ll buy you an imaginary ice cream cone.

Maybe even a real one, if we ever meet in person. :)