30 Days of Yes - If I Wasn't Afraid I Would Dribble Down the Lane

Captains Blog - Day 9. I know that was kind of corny but I caught a snippet of a Trekkie documentary on TV today so it made me think of Star Trek. I'm sure bloggers across the world have already overused "Captains Blog." Now I'm one of them and the temptation is out of my system.

Day 9 of 30 Days of Yes asked me this question: How would my life be different if I wasn't afraid of anything?

My first thought was, I would dribble behind my back, through my legs down the lane, shake my defender and score an easy layup. I'd rather dunk but I'm not afraid to dunk, I just can't at 5'10". I will admit that my ball handling skills are pretty weak for two reasons. One, I don't and never really did practice dribbling like I should have and two, I was afraid of getting picked clean. If I wasn't afraid and didn't settle for just spotting up for jump shots, I would have the passion to work on dribbling. If I spent time and hard work on my dribbling I probably wouldn't be afraid to take it to the hole every time or break the press on my own.

What I am not afraid of right now is writing this blog and spilling my feelings to friends and strangers alike. While looking for work this exercise of publicly talking about these life exercises could be a scary thing, knowing that I also post this blog on LinkedIn where many potential future employers are combing for employees. I would hope that whoever reads this blog sees my strength for acknowledging and facing my weaknesses.

Now, if I wasn't afraid how would my life be different? Is this sort of like, if you didn't need money what would you do today? I hate that question because I don't think you can truly just do whatever you want without money. The money question doesn't seem realistic. But it is realistic to ask how someone's life would be different if they weren't afraid. You can eliminate fear a lot easier than travelling the world and eating whatever you want without money.

If I wasn't afraid of anything I would feel totally free and really live in the now. I wouldn't dwell on mistakes of the past and I wouldn't worry about what I don't have for the future or what might happen in the future if I don't do something significant in the present.

I would probably be more assertive if I wasn't afraid of anything. I have a tendency to "people please" and can be afraid that I will disappoint people, or afraid of people's responses, if I don't do what they ask or what I think they want. I'm not saying that I do all these great things because I know I can still be very selfish too and get too wrapped up in my own struggles.  My passion is actually to do so much more for others but I want to be at a point where I help because I can and not because I feel the need to please.

What I learned from the Day 9 activity is: practice and work on what you are passionate about and dribble down the lane for the score. With repetition and hard work you become great. When you are great you are not afraid. You may not make every shot but you sure as heck won't be afraid to take the next shot if you remain passionate and keep working hard at it.