Be The Girl Who Feels The Fear, And Does It Anyway
By Peace Ofure
You are a dreamer in your own right. You sing in the shower, you write books in your journal, you organize things for your family, you have these talents here and there and you use them here and there. But sometimes, in your private space, you dream of a new job, a new city, going to college, writing a play, you name it. You wonder if there is room for you in the creative industry, in the entrepreneurial world, in the scientific realm, in the medical field. The answer is yes. The catch is, it is not easy. Not even a little bit.
You will be challenged as you rise.
You will learn that when you start singing in front people and not just the shower head that you might be pitchy. You will meet people that are better than you at what you want to do. You will feel threatened. You will feel insecure. You will doubt, but you cannot allow what you feel in that moment to tell you how to live out the rest of your life.
Instead, speak up and speak to your fear and tell it how your life will be.
You can only prepare well for what you know to prepare for. You prayer better for the familiar sometimes, so naturally when you are in a new space, with new dreams, with limited experiences, you will find yourself feeling inadequate from time to time.
This does not mean that you quit.
The women who inspire us the most are the women who kept showing up.
Despite their fears.
Despite their limitations.
Despite how many mistakes they have made.
She is the woman who learned to write by writing, to dance my dancing, to soar by starting…and returning day after day. She is the woman who continues to practice. She is the woman who speaks faith to herself. She tells herself that she can. She learns when she messes up. She dusts off the mistakes from yesterday but keeps the lessons that she learned. She readies herself for today and she immerses herself. She is the kind of woman who dives.
I see her in you.
You’ve got all the signs. Determination, a wild imagination, untapped curiosity, and breath in your body. Do the thing that consumes your mind. Try, and then try again.
Keep showing up.
Don’t show up halfway. Dive.
Let yourself absorb the pressure of “new”, let yourself react. Then respond with a bit more experience in your possession. Learn the strokes of other swimmers who can last longer and go further. Copy and then create.
Be the girl who is willing to contribute, to speak up, despite the fear that you feel when your voice trembles as you speak. Choose to believe in yourself. Believe in yourself the way that you have always wanted to be believed in.
Feel the fear, but don’t let it consume you.
Get moving, because it will try.
When it gets close, just JUMP!
Don’t hold back. Choose to go after the thing you desire most. Make the phone call, apply for the job, ask the question, cut your hair. Do the thing you dare to do. There is not another life to wait on. This is your moment and it’s all we are sure of until the next one comes along. Don’t waste your moments waiting to be brave, waiting to live the life you have always dreamed of.
Instead, get up, speak up, look fear in the face and kiss it goodbye.
You are able to do more than you fear. So stop waiting, just go!