It’s all in the moment — when you’re called to action —
when you find out who you really are.
b.

This week… was my week of yes.

I stepped into fear, stepped up to the plate, and gave that ball my biggest swing.

The first time I said “yes” to something I was internally begging myself not to was when I was worrying about this oral exam I was scheduled to take this week. This summer, I’ve been taking a five-week Spanish course and despite studying for a couple hours a day, I still wasn’t confident in my ability to have a verbal interview with my professor, all in Spanish.

I can’t do it, I told myself.

I was so consumed with fear that I found myself actually thinking about dropping the class altogether. For some reason, I would rather drop the class than fail the test and I was inches away from carrying out that mission like it was the better idea between the two.

It wasn’t and deep down I knew that. So, instead of saying no to the oral exam, I ended up saying yes and, in the end, I got a 96%.

The lesson I had to learn was that I was capable, I survived, and I could do it again. The lesson I learned was that an inch of growth will always surpass a mile of inaction and the difference between inaction and growth is the same difference between yes and no. The difference is everything.

We’ll never get to the other side of the lawn by running away from the things we don’t feel qualified to do.

The other side of the lawn is always green because on the other side of it is growth and growth comes from doing the things we don’t feel qualified to do.

So, when you think you can’t do something, do it anyway.

The second time I said yes to something I normally wouldn’t was when I decided not to let my fear of messing up a note keep me from playing Pamela in front of an audience. My initial thought when given the opportunity was but what if I mess up?

But I couldn’t let myself think that way, so I replied,
so what if I do?

And my fear couldn’t compete with that argument, so I took the opportunity and I played, and I did mess up, but it didn’t matter. I realized that there will be more times when messing up won’t matter than when it will and if I could just take those times and embrace them… who knows just how far I’ll go.

This week was a week of yes, but what if next week was, too? What if no became the new understudy and yes became the new you?

Think about it.

Cheers,
B.