“If it scares you, it might be a good thing to try.”

Seth Godin

What really scares you? I know at one time in my life I HATED public speaking. I am not alone in having had that phobia, it is a common fear. I heard once that people actually ranked public speaking ahead of dying as something they were afraid of! Today speaking still makes my pulse race and makes my palms sweat a bit. I love that it scares me. It makes me push harder, prepare harder, think through what I want to say and how I want to say it. If it didn’t scare me, I don’t believe I could do my audience justice and make it worth their time and attention to listen to something I am saying.

I no longer hate speaking, in fact, I love it, but it still scares me. But I wouldn’t trade away the feeling I get, and the benefits I believe come that from, being scared. Having a fear that I must overcome forces me to be better, to grow and improve. Besides, how do you know you are alive if you aren’t scared on occasion?