Although I can’t name any, I know I’ve seen the same scene play out in more than one movie. Someone with a talent gets stage fright and runs away, or passes out. It could be said that fear made them fail. But did it?
It might’ve been the first time they stepped out of their comfort zone. If so, they did something incredible that day. A failure or something incredible; the same event from different perspectives. Either way, fear was stuck in the middle of someone’s thoughts, wishes, wants, needs and actions.
The command “perform now” just couldn’t find a way around fear, and there’s no other route. Fear cut off the nerve between the brain and the muscles. Why? Yes, it’s a physiological response—but is that really it? Is that all we are? Is that all we are in that exact moment of fright? Just a human body responding to chemicals being released as feedback from the surrounding stimuli?
If the fear blocking the neurons’ only way to its destination wasn’t enough, additional thoughts might whisper or yell. For me, it was often “you’re not good enough.”
What does your say?
Is that all you are when you hear those words? What could happen if the neuron makes its way around fear? The worst I can think of is being booed by the audience, which has zero effect on our physical wellbeing. The toll is taken onto our emotional wellbeing, another physiological response. So again, I beg the question: is that all you are? Just the result of a chemical response in your brain, dictated by your environment? The most important question is this: will you allow the fear to define you, or will you overcome it?
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