My Ultimate Fear…
But my BIGGEST fear is,
without a doubt,
public speaking. The mere
thought of it still makes my
body quiver and my stomach
nauseous… It is the one thing
I dread the most!
The very first time I ever had
to speak in public was last
year. I was asked by my
company to fly out to Las
Vegas and speak at an event
in front of about 150 people.
I was scared to death, but I
tried to hide my fear as I
walked up to the front of the
room with the microphone in
hand…
As I started speaking, my
throat became extremely
constricted and it was very
hard to breathe all of a
sudden. My heart was
beating out of my chest and I
was convinced that everyone
could hear it through the
microphone! Like a deer in
headlights, my mind
completely blanked on the
Joy feelings magazine
speech I had prepared. An
overwhelming feeling of
weakness started flowing
throughout my entire body
and I realized that I was
about to faint! My knees
started buckling and before I
hit the ground, I ran back to
my seat and held my head
down before I went
unconscious. My body was
trembling, sweating, and I
felt incredibly sick and
nauseous.
I was absolutely
humiliated… I wanted to just
shrivel up into a little ball and
disappear. Thankfully
everyone around me was very
understanding and
compassionate and tried their
best to make me feel better.
That day was one of the most
embarrassing, but yet one of
the most growth-inducive
experiences of my entire life!
Facing It Again…
After that, I knew I needed to
overcome my fear of public
Page 24