Missed Opportunities

     You miss EVERY opportunity that you don't take! Failure is scary and even the thought of failure is scary. One of the biggest things that I've noticed in my life is that the fear of failure is the number one thing that stops me from chasing my dreams and growing into the person that I can one day become. I'm sure this is true for many of you as well. There are many things wrong with this! Fear is unproductive. Fear of failure is rarely legitimate. And fear HOLDS US BACK!

     In high school, I was in a competitive choir that performed dozens of times during the holiday season. We were well known in the community and I was constantly surrounded by numerous people with immense amounts of musical talent. One particular Christmas season, my choir teacher wanted us to sing the song Let it Go from the movie 'Frozen'. The beginning of the song was a solo and she asked all those interested in auditioning to step forward. The girl standing next to me said, "I probably won't get it so I'm not going to embarrass myself in front of the choir." She was scared of trying her best and not being good enough. This fear stopped her from even auditioning.

     As she stood right where she was, about a dozen other girls stepped forward to audition. We sang it as a group and then each sang the solo individually. It all sounded lovely and there was not a single person who auditioned that wouldn't have made an amazing soloist. Despite all the talent, the choir director informed us that everyone who auditioned would be singing it as a featured group. The girl who had decided not to audition ended up throwing a bit of a fit. She claimed that if she had known it would be a group thing, she would have auditioned. She then went on to ask if she could sing in the group anyway. The teacher got the room quiet and said, "You miss every opportunity you don't take."

     This resonated with me because it is so true! This girl's fear was unproductive because she just sat in the back while others put themselves out there. It was not legitimate because she was really a very talented singer. There's an acronym for fear that goes like this:

False
Evidence
Appearing
Real

She truly believed that she wouldn't be good enough to get the solo. This was completely false because she was already good enough to be in the choir. Not only that, but she was a section leader! Even though her fears were not legitimate, she felt that they were real, and that held her back.

     Fear of failure can hold us back in so many ways. This is truly unfortunate because there are a plethora of opportunities in our lives every single day. Opportunities in work, at school, at church. Opportunities to be a better person or to make a change in your home or community. Opportunities to become the person that you have the potential to become. The list is never-ending and I've found that the more opportunities I've taken, the more opportunities seem to pop up right in front of me.

     Fear of failure is hard to get over, but you miss every opportunity you don't take. And my friends, you've never failed until you've stopped trying.

I love you all and have a blessed week! <3