Update: Here’s a very smart take on the subject of this post from MSNBC Entertainment writer Miki Turner: “But professionally, confidence is the one thing you can’t buy. The only way you can get it back is to reach inside yourself, yank it out, tweak it and pray that your fan base is loyal enough to give you another chance.”
It all counts.

Although this is the land of opportunity and second (and third, and fourth) chances, it all counts.

That’s the message I’m taking away from the … hmm … interesting Britney Spears performance at Sunday night’s VMAs.

Spears has been in a highly visible downward spiral for sometime now, and this isn’t news. Yet this is also the land of the underdog – we Americans love seeing the down-and-out come back kicking ass (pardon the French) and taking names. It’s sort of a national past-time isn’t it?

Spears might have been taking the public’s patience for granted, if the comments reported in the press are any indication.

I don’t know – had it been me, I believe I would have parked myself in some large, isolated studio rehearsing for that moment in a series of 10-hour days, and then some. I believe I’d have kissed the partying goodbye (at least for the interim) and put everything I had – every bit of energy, every bit of will, every bit of creativity – into preparing for that all-too-brief period of time when I had the attention of the American public. I would have put everything (except my health and my children’s wellbeing) on the backburner, and hired the absolute best choreographer I could afford, the best vocal coach, the best stage director, the best backup dancers . . . but then, I would have demanded the best from myself, and nothing less.

Then again, who am I kidding?

The truth is that it’s all too easy to sit here and “Monday morning” (or Tuesday morning) quarterback someone else’s game. The truth of the matter is that we all have our own “VMA” moments – times in our lives where we know, well in advance, that eyes will be on us. That we have a singular chance to “make it or break it” in our chosen fields, our relationships, our art. And sometimes we make it. But a lot of times, although we start strong, we finish weak. We kid ourselves that “it doesn’t really matter” and “one ______ (fill in the blank – missed rehearsal, jelly donut, skipped exercise session, disregarded blog post, speaking engagement not pursued) won’t kill me.”

Of course, as we saw all too painfully on Sunday night, it all counts. And if we truly desire success – be it as a singer making a comeback, or a lawyer establishing her own solo practice – we have to realize at every level, including cellular, that everything counts – every decision, every moment. There may be second chances, or third or fourth, but for this chance, there is only this moment, this decision, this action which must be taken, or forsworn as the case may be.

And failing that, there is only bad press on Monday morning.