That’s a pretty big question. What could we accomplish if we were never afraid? I imagine the bigger question is, what couldn’t we?!?
My babies are all just about grown up on me now. I don’t know that I ever imagined that. I suppose I imagined them to be babies or little children or even pimply middle-schoolers forever. (And just for clarification, they will always be babies in my heart!) There have been so many things that I wanted to teach them…that I tried to teach them. Mostly, I wanted them to be kind and happy and full of laughter.
And I wanted them to not be afraid. I wanted them to be confident. I wanted them to share their gifts with the world in whatever capacity they were able to share.
I think maybe I got my wish.
My baby girl participated in a concert at her school. She sang a duet with her friend and played the piano. She’s not really experienced at that. She’s had about two whole piano lessons in her life. She has learned a bit about sheet music in choir and various family members have shared their musical knowledge with her. Her big brother came over and gave her some pointers (he plays by ear). She was plenty nervous before the concert.
She was afraid she would mess up on the piano. She played it anyway.
She was afraid she couldn’t sing and play at the same the time. She did it anyway.
She was afraid people wouldn’t like it. She sang it anyway.
In the end, it was gorgeous. Both girls did an exceptional job and there have been a lot of compliments from a lot of different people. Fear tried to rear its ugly head, but my baby girl just waved at it in passing. Moments like that make a momma so proud!
It has taken me many years to convince myself that it would be better to fail than to regret. Fortunately, my children seemed to grasp that concept much sooner than me!! Now tell me, what could you accomplish if you weren’t afraid?
(Here’s a video of my sweet Spizzie and her hilariously bubbly friend singing a duet cover of “Bluebird” by Sara Bareilles. It makes me so happy! Please ignore the glare and enjoy the music!)
