Leave it all at the Door?

Recently, I have encountered some struggles in my personal life. They have certainly taken a lot of emotional and physical strength out of me, and influenced the way I communicate with those who surround me. Generally, I'm pretty good about setting aside my troubles to focus on the here and now; but lately I find this more and more difficult- especially in rehearsal.

We always hear the saying "leave it at the door" implying that, as an actor, our job is to forget our present troubles and walk into the world of art, the world of the character and so on. But I seem to be questioning this. I understand the concept, but I question whether its doable. I don't know if one can fully leave everything at the door. Can one just decide to lift off the stress of one's struggles?

What I do know, from experience, is learning to acknowledge the struggles and their impact on you and learning how to work with them. Especially in rehearsal. It's important to be able to focus and be able to be in the present of the play, but I don't think you have to forget everything that's happening to you. In fact, by understanding your struggles, you may even be able to have insight into your character or some part of the play. We can't  start rehearsal the same way as the day before-the same feeling, the same emotional stance, physical being, etc. Humans change daily, we can't repeat the past. So why do we expect actors to come into rehearsals the same everyday- the same energy, the same blank slate, the same ability to be in the present? Yes, that's part of the job of being an actor, but the other part is learning to assess oneself.

I propose that by knowing exactly where oneself is at the present and knowing what needs to be done in order to produce at the expected level is more effective than trying to "leave it all at the door". At least it's something I plan to try.