Conquering Fear While Shaking in my Wrist Warmers

The smile on my face here is one of relief. I had just been through A MOMENT and I was full of adrenaline. I had harnessed my inner super power!

But 15 minutes before this photo, I was utterly terrified.

I was at a local business conference and as I walked through the lobby I saw that the Cape radio station was broadcasting live from the event. That's cool, I thought. Then I heard the voice and realized that the voice I was hearing was the voice that I listened to most of the time on the radio.

A voice popped up in my head..."Well, here it is, Nancy, your opportunity to say hello. He's right there. It's not every day you get to meet someone who you listen to on the radio."

Then another voice popped up: "Don't bother, he doesn't care. It's a dumb idea."

Then the first voice popped in again: "I'm going to be really mad at myself tomorrow if I don't take this opportunity that is right in front of me. Why do I always shy away from putting myself out there? What's the big deal? Just go say hello."

The planets must have been in alignment that day, for I listened to the voice that told me I could do this. So I walked over, waited until the commercial break, and then when he looked over at me I said "Hi, I'm Nancy. I've been listening to you for years and I wanted to just say thank you for what you do!"

I was shaking in my wrist warmers. But I did it. I was so proud of myself for overcoming my fear and just doing it. Yay for me!!!! I envisioned going home, putting my feet up on the table and toasting to my success at overcoming my fear, with a beer in my hand and a fist in the air. I was awesome. And it wasn’t even that hard.

But then...

Not only did he say "Why thank you!" with a big smile on his face, He also asked me my name and what I do.

Gulp. Ok so he asked me a question.

I really wanted to run away screaming, but I knew that would be rude. And also, that would ruin this momentous occasion, a moment where I had shown such awe-inspiring, fear-conquering courage that certainly someone somewhere would build a bronze statue to commemorate my bravery.

Deep breath.

I responded that I owned a clothing line and that I was here today to do some networking and meet some new faces. He responded with "Ok, great! Have a seat. I'm going to interview live on the air and ask you a few questions."

When I say that that was one of the most terrifying moments of my life, I am not kidding. My eyes widened in disbelief. How in God’s name could I be here, right now, in this moment, and actually survive it?

I said "What? No." He said "Why not?." I said "I don't think so." He said "Why not?" I said "I'm really not ready for this." He said "Of course you are! You'll do great! Have a seat."

My brain was going a mile a minute: So wait a second. I just gathered every ounce of courage I had to overcome my fear and say “hello” to a local celebrity, someone I admired...

AND NOW I had to somehow find a way to go live on the air, without any preparation, any forewarning, any formal training, and without any alcohol? Seriously, I could have used a shot right then and there, even through it was only 9 am.

Just then, the heavens parted, the angels began playing harps, and I heard Mel Robbins’ voice in my head: “I know you’re scared. Do it anyway.”

All those years of watching her speak, stalking her social media (yes, stalking is an accurate term. I love the woman and her no nonsense manner. If you don’t know her, go Google her right now and follow her and learn from her. You can thank me later), and reading her books finally boiled down to this moment: Am I going to do it? Or am I going to let fear win?

My friend and colleague Maria was at the conference with me as well. She was encouraging me to say yes, and of course I didn’t want to look like a wuss in front of someone I so value. Sometimes peer pressure can be a good thing you know.

So between the angels playing harps, Mel’s voice in my head, and Maria’s sweet smile and encouragement, I channeled my inner super hero and told myself I am not a wuss. And I pushed through my fear. And I did it! I gave a live interview on the air. Ed was kind to me, asked easy questions, and guided me so I that didn’t sound like too much of a fool. And then, just like that, it was done.

As my face slowly returned back to it’s normal color, I thought “Wow. Talk about a good feeling!”

No - I’m not talking about the actual interview. I'm talking about the feeling of doing something utterly terrifying, and surviving.

It's a rush like no other. And now I understand why we must face our fears and do the things we are scared of. Because it changes something within us. Forever. It teaches us that we can do difficult things. We can do things we don’t think we can do. And once we survive the thing we think we cannot do, we can go on. And we now know that those other scary things we think we can’t do…well, we might actually be able to do them too.

Pushing through your fear is like exercising a muscle. The more you use it, the stronger it gets. I somehow found the courage to take a step, and afterwards I felt like a super hero! I was on top of the world! That is, until I tripped on the stair as I was triumphantly heading out the door.

Oh well, I guess even super heroes stumble sometimes.

Go and do, with grace.

xo
Nancy