Rob Lowe: Why we should be grateful for the ‘down periods’ of life

IT’S easy to feel like you’re on top of the world when your career is soaring. But what about when life isn’t at its peak? Actor Rob Lowe shares his wisdom.

BARCELONA, SPAIN - JUNE 18: Rob Lowe poses during a photocall for his latest film 'Sex Tape' on June 18, 2014 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Miquel Benitez/Getty Images)

IT’S easy to feel like you’re on top of the world when your career is soaring, you’re living passionately and you’re accomplishing one dream after the other. But what about when life isn’t at its peak?

Learning to appreciate these “down periods” rather than take them personally has been a key component of actor Rob Lowe’s success.

“You can’t help but learn odd, unique, interesting things if you’re in show business for 35 years,” he told Huffington Post Live.

“What I’ve learned is the good news is that you have down periods ... What one does when the phone isn’t ringing preps you for the next time you get to the point where the phone rings off the hook.”

Lowe said he finds it easy to deal with the cyclic “down periods” of his career, because he can turn to his family for unconditional love and support.

“I spent the first 20 years building my career, and then the next 20 years building my life, which I had completely forgotten,” he said.

Actor Rob Lowe arrives at the Elton John Oscar Party in West Hollywood, California 07/03/2010.

“When you have a real life that is important to you outside of show business, then it’s much easier to not take it personally because you have something that’s more important than your job.”

And when it comes to living a gratifying life, Lowe’s advice is simple:

“Life is about making memories,” he said. “At the end, that really is all you have. At the end, you don’t care about your bank account or any of the stuff we worry about every single minute of our days. All we have is our memories, so you have to go out and make them happen, like a job. You don’t have to be rich, you don’t have to be famous, you don’t have to be successful, you don’t have to be any of those things. Everybody can make great memories for themselves and their family. That’s what I would like to see folks do because it’s made all of the difference for me and people I love.”

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