So I went out tonight on a whim to the gay bar near my house. They were doing karaoke so I decided what the hell and put my name in the cue and waited my turn. Now I’ve been there plenty of times but always chickened out because I can’t talk all that well. So as my turn approached I started panicking. What if they laugh at me? What if I mess up the words, etc. So when the DJ called my name I took a deep breath and started to sing Stand by Me.
At first no one could hear because my voice was so weak, but after the DJ restarted the song I did better. Now my performance wouldn’t have won any awards, but you know I had fun and took a major step in conquering my fear of talking in public. As I was leaving I got to thinking, What was I so afraid of? I have no more control of how people react than I do over the fact I’m black or that I’m bisexual. So my question to you is this: Why let fear rule us? How many times have you not done something because you were afraid of what might happen. FDR was right, the only thing we have to fear, is fear itself.