Do It Afraid

       Sometimes unexpected opportunities come our way; and coupled with the shock of such occurrence is intimidation. There is nothing wrong with being intimidated by something, but allowing that to turn into crippling fear (which often leads to inaction) is. If you allow fear to stop you, you might end up missing out on what could have been an amazing and life-changing prospect.

       I decided to address that topic due to a recent experience I had. My being a psychologist and author were dreams that I nurtured and worked hard toward accomplishing. While I still kept aspiring for more upon achieving these two goals, certain things simply didn’t make the cut, in terms of my objectives. One thing I never consider is having my own radio show, because just thinking about it would have created high- level anxiety for me, given that any type of public speaking is quite intimidating to me. Consequently, when I was granted the great opportunity to host a radio show, though I was excited and grateful, I panicked at the thought of actually hosting a LIVE radio show that could be heard around the world. In light of the potential benefits of the show, I took on the challenge even though I was becoming more and more anxious as the start date drew near. Fast-forward a few weeks after I began the show, I came to notice its usefulness, thus prompting me to think about how I could have forfeited that opportunity, had I allowed my fear to take precedence.

        If we were to count the things we convinced ourselves we couldn’t do, because of this reason or that restriction, the number would probably be alarming. It’s amazing how one can justify their decision to not pursue certain potentially rewarding offers and dreams/goals, on the account of what would appear to be reasonable causes. I refer to these cases as logical excuses (and I’m not excluding myself) because we’ve all done it at one point or another. Oftentimes it is the result of fear… Fear of not measuring up, fear of failure, and even fear of success. That last one may be hard to imagine. However, there is such a thing as being afraid to succeed due to what success would require of the person.

        Sometimes what is sometimes required of you may not be what you aspired to do in the first place. But, just because you didn’t aspire to go into a particular field/career (or what have you) does not mean it’s off-limits to you. You might not have wanted to go that route, but that does not imply you can’t do it, nor does it mean it was not part of the plans for your life. If an opportunity presents itself to you and it seems to be legitimate, as well as potentially beneficial, you owe it to yourself to at least consider it without letting doubt or fear decide for you.

       Don’t allow fear to make you run from what could be part of your destiny. Rather than being paralyzed by fear and not venture into a new journey, it is more advantageous to try it even when you are plagued with doubt and fear. Show fear who’s the boss and do it afraid. Before long, you’ll see that what seemed to be so scary isn’t that scary anymore.

Louise Beaubrun-Macaluso, PhD