Fear of being interviewed has to rank up there along with telling someone you love them, a root canal, and disappointing your parents. All 4 open the door to all sorts of possible pain and rejection. And who wants that? Isn’t it better to duck your head inside your shell like a turtle and avoid all the tough stuff? Isn’t it better to keep things low key and settle for a nagging ache, than expose yourself to blinding scrutiny and other people’s judgment?
I guess I’d have to answer that in one word…..NO!!!!
I don’t know when it happened to me, but somewhere along the road I developed a notion to feel the fear, but do it anyway. Like Eleanor Roosevelt, (bless her soul who gave me the mantra) I believe, “You must do the thing you cannot do.”
Oh sure, I still get those creeping fingers of tension crawling along my shoulder blades…I still have a swarm of butterflies in my stomach…I still have to remember not to shallow breathe so much that I start hyperventilating…but I’d rather suffer all that if it means I come out the other side a better, stronger person. Fear is just nature’s way of saying CAUTION. It gives you the time to look inside and decide what you want for your life. Amelia Earheart said, “Courage is the price life extracts for granting one peace.” If your desire to have a better life, to have peace, to love and be loved, to be proud of yourself, is stronger than the caution of fear…..then DO IT!!
One of my proudest moments as a daughter came a couple of years ago. My Mom and I were on her front porch on a gorgeous summer day. We were listening to a meditation CD I had bought her. At one point the speaker was talking about being an example of “courage in action.” My Mom turned to me and said, “That’s you honey. You are courage in action.” Needless to say, it was a highlight of my life. It was not only an unexpected and beautiful accolade from my mother; but that one moment truly cemented my belief that fear cannot survive in the same heart where courage lives.
