We all have fear. It is part of life. It might be something terrible that we are afraid of. I remember one of my biggest fears was public speaking. I also, had a grade in English that verified it. Yes, I was flunking English when the mid way point between grade cards came out. A letter went to my parents letting them know that at this rate I might never pass English. 

        My parents found a way to properly motivate me. If my grades did not improve, I would not be driving. Whoaa! Hold on here! Let's not get carried away. I was now ready to face my fears. I proceeded to go back to school  and read six current event stories in front of the class. All at one time, instead of once a week like everybody else had done. What is that saying? What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger. 

       I retired in October and I wanted to start playing out. I wanted to sing songs that I had written. I had done some open mics, played at the retirement party at work and at my retirement party with family and friends. I had sent a couple emails for gigs but no success with them.

      I have been doing preparation work to get ready for performing for years. Writing songs, taking guitar lessons, taking vocal lessons, buying guitars, amplifiers to gig with, microphones and a vocal pedal. Yeah, I had laid the ground work musically. 

      I had also laid the groundwork by having a presence on the web. I had created my own website. Jimmcarter.com  . It has songs that I have written, demos I had made, videos of me singing live, blogs about being a songwriter and an electronic press kit. EPK. 

      I went to Canvas to design and order business cards. I got the cards that you can scan that will take you directly to my website. I was doing all the things I needed to do to get rid of the excuses I kept making. 

      It was time to face my fears. I needed to go and ask for a gig. Where would I go? My aunt Avis had moved into a senior living facility. I thought I should go there and ask to play there. I went to Celebration Villa and asked to talk to someone in charge of entertainment. 

      I was treated great by the activity director. She was able to scan my card, go to my website and watch a live video performance. She asked, How much I charged?  That was one thing I had not even thought about. I heard, Fifty bucks. fly out of my mouth. She said, That's cheap and proceeded to give me a date to play.

     Today, I have fifty bucks hidden in my wallet and a great feeling of overcoming my fear. I don't know which one is better but they do go good together. What is the fear that is winning in your life?  You can overcome it, just like I did. You can do this. It's time to Face your Fears.