Do it Afraid

Sweat poured down her face. Her hands shook nervously and teeth clattered together as she stuttered, "uh, ah, um…" Her mind was a total blank as she looked into the expectant, pitying faces of her classmates staring back at her. The papers she held may have been written in Greek, all the good it did her. Her eyes could not even focus on the squiggly black dots on the page.

"I can do this!" she thought to herself. "These are my friends, I know I can do this." Unfortunately, Candy couldn't convince herself. She felt her stomach gave a warning heave and with an alarmed, "excuse me," she grabbed her mouth, and made a mad dash for the door, her only thought to make it to the bathroom before she completely embarrassed herself. She left her classmates in her English class, where she was giving a rebuttal on a debate, staring in astonishment.

The above may sound a little extreme but many of you may be able to relate. The feeling of fear is one that can grip you at anytime and any place. It is a feeling that can turn a usually smart, well-spoken person into the worse kind of babbler. Yep! I've been there and I sometimes revisit that place more often than I would like. However I've learned to overcome.

I recently had an opportunity to go Germany. It was a trip that took me farther away from home than I'd ever been before. I really wanted to go, however, I was fearful. I kept thinking, "Four connecting flights? What if I miss one? What if my friend isn't waiting at the airport, I can't speak German!" Nevertheless, I decided not to let my fears ruin what was the chance of a lifetime. I decided to, as Joyce Meyers puts it, do it afraid. Yes I was still afraid but I did it anyway and it was a wonderful experience. Oh, and guess what, the worse did happen I missed my final connecting flight and because of that my friend wasn't at the airport. But I dealt with it, without panicking and it wasn't half as bad as I feared.

Do it afraid! Three little words and I've learned so much from them. No one is completely self-assured. The most confident of persons sometime feel a sense of doubt or fear. So, the next time you have that oral report to give, or you're fearful for some reason and your stomach is heaving like mad, remember these words do it afraid. I'll tell you a secret, the young lady you admire at school because she seems to have it all together, has secret fears also. We all do but we handle it in different ways, so whatever you do… don't let your fears overcome you! You overcome your fears and DO IT AFRAID.

Ten minutes later, after giving herself a pep talk, Candy reentered the classroom. Her teacher gave her an encouraging smile. She quietly walked behind the podium and gave a convincing rebuttal. When she was done her classmates gave her a standing ovation. Candy had done it afraid and she'd done it well!

Girl Talk
March/May 03