I was up next. Pacing behind the stage curtain. Back and forth, back and forth. Listening to my classmate completely annihilate the microphone on the other side of the heavy, dusty curtain, in front of a whole audience of people, who were probably forced to show up there just like my family.
I began to get clammy, fearful and extremely nervous. Then it hit me.
Oh crap! I forgot all the words. Every. Single. One. Did I mention this was a solo performance??
The debilitating fear I was experiencing, led me to believe I knew none of the words I'd spent weeks memorizing.
Fear has the power to convince you you're unworthy and unable to measure up to the task at hand. Fear can be paralyzing and make you feel like you just aren't good enough, that you are a failure.
The actual definition of fear is an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous. Is fear real? Absolutely, but how much of our fears are something we create or assume? How often do you work yourself up over something that scares you (fear) or intimidates you only to find out in the end that it wasn't near as bad?
Was the fear of anticipation or preconceived notions worse than the actual thing itself?
Fear is 100% a perception or belief based on what we aren't willing to open our minds too. Holla!!
Honestly, let that sink in. Sometimes the thing that we are so afraid of, the thing that we allow to hold us back and to settle for mediocrity, are things we assume about the end result. Without even reaching that destination or allowing for that possibility, we have already decided that it will be too hard and throw in the towel. This could be based off of previous experiences or events we have witnessed and taken on as our own. Or maybe it's that you've been stuck for so long, you don't feel like you could possibly pick up the pieces and begin to something new.
Now lets pump the brakes for a quick sec, K? Fear IS real. Don't for one second think that if you are scared, you have failed or are broken. Being scared of heights or the boogie man, the dark or being alone, spiders or snakes is personal to each and every one of us and no one can tell you what you can be or shouldn't be afraid of.
HOWEVER, the fear that I am talking about is when you use fear as an excuse to stay where you are. Let me elaborate using this awesome quote from Rachel Hollis...It's not a fear of failure that keeps you in this place; it's a fear of
what other people will think of your failure.
Say you are afraid to score a promotion or move across the country for an amazing opportunity, that would absolutely be a dream come true, because you don't want to A. Fail and B. Have to deal with the opinions of others and what you'd look like.
You are telling me, you are willing to suffer and sacrifice your dreams and hopes of what you picture your life to look like, over a belief you've created that most likely isn't true at all. In other words, you are giving up before you even try because staying where you are at now, is easier than growing and stepping out of your comfort zone to experience more....That is the fear I am talking about.
Stepping out of your safe place means you become vulnerable. Vulnerability can be a really hard thing and can turn into a permanent road block for those who allow it to be. We have the power and control to choose what influences our life.
Can we control natural disasters that come and level towns or being laid off from a job? Absolutely not. But we have the power to decide how we will respond. We can either use the adversity as an earth shattering event and allow the fear to overwhelm us, OR we can choose to grab life by the horns and control the way we respond and move forward.
Bad things happen ALL the time to people, I will be the first person to tell you, life isn't easy and it kinda sucks sometimes. But allowing fear to bind your wrists and ankles like shackles, to become a prisoner to our belief of fear isn't an acceptable option. We must refuse to allow ourselves to settle for a life that is robotic. A life that when the end is nearing, we look back full of if only I did...
I let fear convince me for 1 minute, that I didn't know what I had practiced for weeks. When in reality, I knew every dang word of every dang lyric and I did just fine on that stage. My perception almost cost me. Now as silly as that analogy was, it can be applied to much bigger situations you may be facing where fear has its death grip on your life and you feel as if you are suffocating.
What would have happened if I let fear win that day or the day I applied for Nursing School, or my first RN job or .... fill in the blank.
Don't you dare, for one second of this all too short life, allow your belief of fear (whatever the situation may be) to stop you from becoming something more.
Something greater.
We are all meant for so much more, you just have to be willing to put the excuses aside and do the dirty work for yourself. No one can motivate and convince you to change but yourself.
Don't let your fear of what could happen, make nothing happen. If you don't try, your answer 100% of the time, will be no.
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