Do you remember your first performance? I remember the first time I stood up to perform my piano piece. I was totally fearless. Not because I thought I was good, not because I was confident, but because I knew this is what I had to do. There was the piano, and I was here to play it. It wasn’t until later in life when the butterflies would start. There were the fears and worries that would creep in, “What if I slip?” “What if I mess up?” and even more irrationally, “What if my skirt flies up and I don’t know it?” When you are a kid, there are never as many fears as there are in later life. When we get older, we realize that things can go wrong. We soon find out that people make judgments on us and realize the extent of out fallibility.
At this point we are given a choice to continue on or to stop there. There are plenty of reasons to not do anything. You’re too busy, you have other plans, or you just don’t want to go. But often, we all have another reason for not wanting to do something. And that reason is fear.
The kind of fear that I am talking about is not the healthy, self-sustaining fear. It’s the voice in the back of your mind telling you to rethink your decision. It tells you that you are not skilled enough, that you don’t know enough, that you will look ridiculous if you continue, it tells you that no one believes in you. It tells you the lies that you’re afraid are true.
When I was a junior in high school, I made a resolve to myself. I resolved that I would not decide against doing something due to this kind of fear. I had seen what happens when you don’t give in, and it was worth it. Yes, I might fail, but if I do I will learn something. Yes, I might not be skilled enough, but what better way to become skilled? Yes, people might not like the way that I do it, but why not ask and figure out the best way? Yes, you may not be picked, but why not apply and learn something in the process?
It can be easy to still hide behind our fears in college. Don’t call the fear what it is not, “I just don’t feel like it,” or “I don’t really know enough,” or “I won’t be picked anyway.” Fear is hidden behind many of these responses. Fear is something to recognize. Recognize it and decide why that fear is stopping you. And what better time to make mistakes and learn than in college?
If you are thinking about doing something, think about what is stopping you. If fear turns out to be the foundation of your decision, sort through it. If you can rebuild that foundation without fear, than trust that. But if you cannot, what will stop you from flying?
2 Timothy 1:7 “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”
1 John 4:18 “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.”
