What Makes You Uncomfortable?

Can I share something with you that I'm a little embarrassed to admit?




It makes me really uncomfortable to speak in front of large groups of people. I'm talking about the kind of discomfort that makes me sweaty and leaves me feeling physically ill, so much so that my intestines are raging war against each other.  You ever have that feeling?

You may say how is that possible when you teach kids everyday? Well...the kids don't scare me! I can be silly and dance in front of them, make corny jokes and laugh at myself, even speak with my fake British accent (which they love by the way!). I'm totally okay with that. It's the adults who terrify me!!!

When I was about 15 years old, I entered a scholarship pageant. I'm not sure who talked me into that train wreck of an idea, but still, there I was, a young girl who hadn't yet come into her own. I felt so unpretty and so unprepared for it all.  It's no wonder I had a bad case of stage fright, standing there frozen on stage, forgetting my lines to a poem I was in the middle of reciting! Thinking back now, I'm sure that moment, without realizing it, scarred me for the rest of life.

Years later after that episode, I had to recite some bible verses at a close friend's wedding. I walked up to the podium, and delivered my lines.  I didn't forget them this time, but what happened was even more embarrassing. I was literally covered in my own sweat from fear. It was like I had just ran three miles.  "Oh my gosh," my BFSF and date for the wedding had said, "You are sweating so much!" Yup. I hate when that happens.

Eleanor Roosevelt once said, "You must do the things you think you cannot do." I know this because it's something I've been trying to instill in Buddy Roller, and it's time I took my own advice, right? I've got to get over my fear. I've got to overcome it, and I've come up with a few ways I can do this. First, in my professional career, I've got to create more opportunities to get in front of adults and speak. I'm working on it. And second, I've been thinking of joining this organization for years...it's time I just do it.

I'm hoping that since I've written about this and told you about it, I'm holding myself accountable for getting over my fears. What about you? What makes you uncomfortable, and what are you doing about it?