“Whatever you fear most has no power—it is your fear that has the power.
~Oprah Winfrey
I was watching the interview that Oprah did with facebook’s COO, Sheryl Sandberg the other night and I managed to get some really inspirational things from it, but that’s no surprise considering it is Oprah. I think that the most insightful thing that I got from it was when Oprah talked about the fear she had at starting her own cable network. She said that one of the ways that she was able to move past that fear was to make a list of all of the things that she would do if she were not afraid to do them. I immediately jotted down a few notes and started pondering what my list would look like.
Now anyone who knows me knows that I am the queen of list making so of course I couldn’t just sit and ponder what would be on my list, I had to actually make my list. The funny thing was that I put quite a few things on that list that I didn’t even realize that I actually had a yearning to do. There were things that I am so afraid of doing that I had somehow convinced myself that I didn’t want to do those things simply out of fear. In writing them down and being completely honest with myself I realized that I do want to do those things, I’m just scared to. But what kind of existence can I possibly have always being afraid to do what it is I really want to do?
We are all afraid of something. Fear is just a part of life. We are going to be afraid of something, and it is even going to trip us up for a while, but how long do you let that fear control the destination of your journey? I know I can’t kick that habit of fear overnight, hell probably not even in a month or so, but I know it’s not helping me meet my goals. I think that I am going to put my list up on my bulletin board in an effort to remind me of all of the things that I am missing out on by being afraid to do them, or at the very least try.
So since I am a little bit afraid to share any part of this list with the rest of the world for fear of becoming vulnerable I am in fact going to share a part of that list:
- Open my own bookstore
- Go to culinary arts school and pursue opening my own restaurant.
- Write a soap opera and present it for production.
- Write a stage play and get it produced.
- Hound a national magazine or newspaper until they hire me to write for them.
- Start my own internet talk/radio show.
- Audition for the X-factor.
- Start doing motivational speaking to kids and teens in elementary and high schools about the dangers of bullying.
Okay so that was only a small part of my list but I don’t want to go sharing everything. So I think that everyone should go make their own list of what they would do if they were not afraid. If you don’t mind sharing maybe you could leave a comment and share one of those things that you would do. If it’s out there, then there’s no reason to be afraid anymore, right? Even if you don’t share make the list anyway, you just might find it liberating. Until next time…Do what it is you are most afraid of!
Jimmetta Carpenter
Writer/Editor
The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)
Writing as “Jaycee Durant”
https://writetobe.wordpress.com/
http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/
http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310
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