Feel the fear...and do it anyway!

This is the name of a book I stumbled upon a few months ago. It's about how we all experience fear--it's just that some people approach fear with power and others approach fear with paralysis or depression. Once you take action on something that you fear, you grow more confident and more powerful.

For years and years I've written in my journal how I wished I had straight teeth and my "to-do" list always had somewhere written on it, "get braces." And, yet, I procrastinated. I was so afraid. Afraid of the unknown. Afraid of what other people would think or say. Afraid of what I would look like. Afraid of not being able to afford it. Afraid of not being able to get a date or find a boyfriend. Afraid of how it would affect my acting career. (Of course, those of you who know me also know that before braces, I hadn't auditioned for anything in nearly a year; I generally don't have that many dates anyway!; and that I was self-conscious of what I looked like before the braces.)

Now that I've checked "get braces" off on my to-do list, it seems so silly how long I had been paralyzed with fear. Now that I have them, I feel empowered. It wasn't such a big deal after all. It makes me want to re-visit my "to-do" list and do something else that I've been afraid of. Because, at this point, if I have the guts (as a single 29-year old woman) to get braces on my teeth, then I feel like I can do almost anything! Feel the fear...and do it anyway!