Well this may sound silly, but I'm deathly afraid of speaking in front of people. When my Grandfather died my mother asked me to write the eulogy because I'm the writer in the family. That was fine until she told me I was going to get up and read it in front of a church full of people. That changed everything. I was sick about it. I was quite anxious, but I knew "I" was the one that had to read it, no one else. So the time came and I went up in front of the church, got out my reading glasses, took out my water bottle and began to read.
Half way through I got choked up and felt like I was going to pass out. Two men in the front row started to approach the alter. But I stopped, took a swig of water, cleared my throat and continued on. People in the church were crying, but I pushed on to get through. When I sat down I noticed my legs were shaking. People came up to me afterwards and complimented me on my words.
I felt like I got over more than my fear of public speaking that day. I've had a different renewed outlook on life ever since my Grandfather's funeral that is hard to put in words. I've been more willing to reach out and take more chances and challenge myself since then. It took stepping outside of my comfort zone to gain some zest back.
Edited by DebCreativeEditor (06/19/08 06:04 PM)
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