What are you scared to try?
I trained as an actor. I went to drama school for three years and then spent the next ten years pursuing a career as an actor. In many ways, I failed to achieve what I set out to do.
The reason? Fear. I can appreciate now how much I got in my own way. I was scared to try something different, even though what I was doing wasn’t working.
I’m not angry at myself. I did my best. I had an amazing time, I met incredible, passionate and talented people and I had some amazing experiences.
I also met a lot of people who were unkind, unhelpful, rude and who were clearly struggling themselves in some way.
I wouldn’t change any aspect of it, which is as well because it’s not possible.
But I did what I wanted to do. Be an actor.
I chose to stop when I decided to become a therapist, which I’ve been for over five years now. I didn’t immediately lose all the skills I had learned and acquired in those 13 years of acting.
I use them in my work.
I use them every day.
Nothing is wasted.
I’m sometimes told that I have a radio voice.
So I decided to involve myself in radio. Not because of these generous comments, but because I love radio.
I volunteered for a local station, Brooklands Radio, and I’ve had the opportunity to read out the weather, the travel news and local events.
Soon I’ll be hosting my own show.
It’s not about wanting it to lead to something ‘better’. I’m doing it because I want to do it. I want to play music, share local news and information and ‘be on the radio’ and to be a part of the community.
The stutters don’t matter, the fact that I scrolled off the page and had to find the traffic news again doesn’t matter, or the misreadings, etc. It’s all part of it. Learning. Discovering and also enjoying the mistakes. I won’t ever stop making them in some way. Knowing that frees me from worrying about them.
I don’t know who’s listening. I don’t know if anyone is listening, but I hope that I’m contributing in some small way to the community and I’m doing what I want to do and enjoy doing.
Why else do it?
It’s the same with anything. So many of us don’t do what we want to do because we’re scared to try. It’s not a fear of trying, but a fear of not succeeding, of making mistakes, of getting things ‘wrong’.
I accept that these things might or will happen and enjoy the process.
What are you not doing? I’d love to hear from you about what you’ve not done because you were scared to try.
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