{flickr photo by: Injas World}
I thought I was. I never meant to sit on my high horse (in this case, a second-hand office chair) and tell you to face fear and gear up for positive change if I didn’t believe I could do it. I said it because I had walked that path myself.
But there’s something I failed to mention and something I forgot about.
The more challenges we climb through, the bigger and scarier the ones following it (and there will always be more difficult challenges along the way). Life does not get easier.
I took for granted that every struggle and crisis I have endured were only stepping stones, baby steps to the life I wanted.
Practice Makes Perfect?
In theory, the more you practice something, the better you are at it. But when it comes to following your dreams, it doesn’t matter how much time you spend reading, studying and preparing for change. What matters is your commitment to it.
The more you practice at facing your fears, the more fears you are able to face. But that doesn’t mean the road ever gets easy.
The Dream That Almost Came True
I think enough time has passed for me to write this…
A few weeks ago, I got an email that changed my life.
A staff member from the Oprah show contacted me about a question I had asked on the website. Let me back up a bit.
I am a long-time, huge fan of Oprah and her show. My dream to attend the Oprah show has been pasted on my vision board for years. And I actually got to see her in person at the OYou! magazine conference in San Francisco a few years ago. I have been trying to get tickets for her show forever. And now with the show ending, I knew that chance was pretty slim.
In desperation, I began answering questions from their call-outs to viewers who wanted to be on the show.
Imagine my excitement when I got that email from someone from the show saying they were interested in my question. And then the thrill of that person calling me to let me know that I might be Skyping with Oprah and the producers for an upcoming Behind the Scenes show.
I should have been over the moon with happiness. It was my chance to finally talk to Oprah. But do you know what happened? Surprisingly, I felt a cloud of dread hover over me. I was so sick to my stomach in fear that I almost wished that it didn’t happen at all.
The anxiety of having a dream come true was so overwhelming that I started to wish that I was never chosen.
And do you know what happened next?
I didn’t get picked.
I was so disappointed that I started to beat myself up about it. It was just a simple question that I had to ask. It probably wouldn’t take more than 3 minutes. I couldn’t believe I was willing to give up a dream because of my fear. I vowed that given another opportunity, I wouldn’t chicken out and let the chance slip through my fingers.
Can you guess what happened next?
You guessed it. I was asked to potentially be on the show again. That was a few weeks ago. I don’t know if I will be on the show. But the experience taught me a valuable lesson.
I too, have dreams that I still would love to fulfill. But in order to receive the gifts that those dreams would bring, I have to face the fears and obstacles that require me to get them.
I know it’s a simple thing to understand, dear friends. But it’s one that I realized must be learned in practice and not in theory.
Part of that journey involves a letting go. For me, it was letting go of the idea that I couldn’t do it, that I wouldn’t be able to control what happened. I needed faith that I wouldn’t stumble over my words or mess up my question or that if I had, I would still be living my dream. I needed to let go of the idea of perfection and embrace the opportunity I was being given.
How about you? Have you been given an opportunity recently, but are afraid of the change it will bring? What do you need to let go of in your life to make that dream a reality?
*This is a great article on embracing change.
