Everyone is afraid of something. There! The secret’s out.
No matter if its spiders, public speaking, heights, or marshmallows. Each of us has something that even the thought of gets our hearts beating a little faster and takes every drop of moisture away from our lips.
Recently I’ve been trying to adopt the habit of not letting fear get in the way of something I’d like to do. Now I’m not talking about jumping off a cliff and attempting to fly, or being a stuntman on a Michael Bay film. Just little things that sometimes we gravitate towards but then all the “What ifs” and “Ya, but” thoughts get in the way of achieving them.
Moving to Barcelona was one positive step towards this goal. During the time it took me to make the decision to move I realized the only thing holding me back was fear. Fear of the unknown. Because the move is basically a crap shoot, with a million different balls in the air, the element of uncertainty can be paralyzing sometimes. But when it came down to it, I realized that my desire to go superseded my need for safety. And away I go.
More recently though, (i.e. tonight) I face another monkey that’s long been on my back. Since I was a kid I’ve always wanted to sing well in front of an audience, but again my fears prevented me from ever pursuing it. Not so much being in front of an audience, but the additional pressure I put on myself to achieve is usually far greater than any reasonable expectation.
Pushing through my apprehension I started taking singing lessons a few months ago and found myself progressing faster than I had anticipated. So with my instructor hounding me at each turn, tonight I will take the stage for an open mic night where I’ll be performing The Fray’s How To Save A Life.
I’m taking the old motto, “Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst” for tonight’s performance. Because I’m assuming it will be difficult to concentrate on the words and my voice when all I’ll be able to hear is my heart pounding out the words “TURN BACK” in morse code.
But no matter if a successful performance eludes me this evening, I think if we can all take smaller steps now, it might just allow for bigger ones in the future.