Do one thing (or maybe two).
There's a saying that you should do one thing everyday that scares you. I'm not sure how realistic the everyday part is but I like the idea of doing scary things. So for today, I'm going to get really real with you, Internet.
As a kid, I always wanted to perform. Anyone who came over would be subjected to my shrieking little voice calling out, "It's showtime!" Showtime was, well, whatever I thought it should be. Sometimes I sang, sometimes I danced, mostly I just made things up as I went along. In middle school, this will to perform landed me in Christmas choir at church, scoring one of the coveted solos. In high school, I did musical theater (briefly) before deciding I was too cool to be involved in extracurricular programs. By college, performing meant cracking jokes and trying to impress whoever was around. But, as is so common, I fell out of performing sometime in my twenties. A quarter-life existential crisis set in and I let a series of personal setbacks degrade my confidence.
It wasn't fun. I stopped going out as much. Stopped putting myself out there. Stopped doing anything scary. After thinking on last week's post about challenges, I remembered a friend who followed through on a year of yes way before Shonda Rhimes. In an effort to rebuild his self-confidence, he started saying yes to everything that came his way. Unsurprisingly, after months of doing this, he started to feel better.
In taking page from his book (sorry, Shonda) I decided to start saying yes to more things. Shortly after, that same friend asked me to come sing in his new band. I said yes. Turned out that wasn't that scary. Scary was admitting all of this. Scary is happening tomorrow when we play our first show (see attached flier). That's OK because I'm learning that scary is temporary. Regret is what lasts. So I guess it's showtime.
"Don't let other people determine how you feel about yourself. Don't let the past knock you down. Don't let whatever happened to you by anybody stop you from achieving your dreams. You are not going to be undermined. You are going to be who you intended to be." - HRC
