Do It Afraid

Over the past few months I have had the privilege of participating in several new, exciting opportunities. And by new and exciting I really mean I was honored to be asked, but I was literally scared to death to follow-through after giving a yes.

Both opportunities were something I felt the Lord nudging me toward, telling me to do, go, say yes, just do it afraid. To the point that if I said no, just because I was uncomfortable, I was being disobedient to His call.

Just do it afraid, Britt. If you wait until you feel ready or less anxious or fully prepared, you will never do it. The opportunity will have passed you by and who knows when it might come again. Just do it afraid. 

Just because we feel the fear doesn't mean it's not from God.

So I said yes to both - my first paid speaking opportunity and a fashion show fundraiser for the local Gigi's Playhouse. The first required a prepared speech to a roomful of approximately 50 women (where I knew only two) and the second required me to put on cute clothes (ok, that part was fun) and WALK DOWN A RUNWAY ALL ALONE AND POSE FROM SIDE TO SIDE AND DO ALL THE GESTURES WOMEN WHO WALK DOWN RUNWAYS DO ALL WHILE SEVERAL HUNDRED EYES STARED AT ME.

Jesus, take the wheel.

Those that know me well know that I am most comfortable behind a computer screen. As in, typing words in a room all by my little self. Just me and my coffee and my laptop. Not speaking words to a room full of people and most certainly not strutting up and down a runway.

Oh my goodness gracious.

I cannot begin to convey to you how nervous I was before both events. I ran to the restroom approximately fifteen times at each gathering. Sorry not sorry. This is just what happens when my nerves set in.

Because what if I screw it all up? What if I fail? What if I jumble my words while on stage or forget my points one through three? What if I am not the "type" of speaker they envisioned when they invited me and paid me actual dollars to come open my mouth and "inspire?" What if I fall while walking down a stinking runway? What if I throw up or pass out or . . . ?

The icing on the cake was when the woman running the fashion show (love you, Kathryn!) told me five minutes before I was to walk to JUST POP OFF MY JACKET HALFWAY DOWN THE RUNWAY AND THROW IT OVER MY SHOULDER.

I'm sorry, what? I don't even know what that means. I wear jean shorts and t-shirts approximately 3/4 of the year and how do you even just casually pop off a jacket while wearing it?

Y'all, I told her no.

This is where I draw the line, K. I obeyed the Spirit and I said yes and I will walk in this show but there will be no popping off the jacket. No ma'am. Ask the next girl.

The picture below is before she called me out as I was on stage and made me take it off.

Again. I basically died.

But y'all. There is so much I would have missed had I said no out of fear. And this lesson of just doing it afraid has really stuck with me the last few months. God has big, wide plans for us, experiences He longs to give us and share and delight in with us, and we often miss these good gifts because of nerves and assuming someone else is better suited for the job.

I would have missed hugging the necks of Hope Moms of West Texas, hearing their stories, and sharing together in their burdens and their joys. I would have missed eating a delicious meal of bbq and cornbread and cobbler and taking pictures together honoring our babies in heaven. I would have missed reconnecting with a friend from college who lost a baby at seven weeks old due to SIDS. I had no idea. Yet, because of a yes offered in fear, there is a connection between old friends that never would have been.

(pictures from the Hope Mommies West Texas Chapter event to come soon)

I would have missed getting to know a handful of new friends and families affiliated with Gigi's Playhouse. Several beautiful friendships have begun as a result of a "yes" when I really wanted to just pull a Jonah and run and hide. I'm looking at you Belinda, Nicole, Carly, and Mandy.

This is my new friend, Nicole. Love her so! 

So in an effort to encourage us all to just show up scared and do it afraid regardless of the outcome, I have been compiling quotes that speak to this dilemma and that have provided inspiration to me this year. I hope they inspire you to just do it afraid, too.

Let's feel the fear and do it anyway.

. . .

You’re not a winner because you won, you’re not a loser because you lost, you’re a participant because you tried. - Bob Goff 

I would rather fail trying then fail watching. - Bob Goff 

Success isn’t final, failure isn’t fatal but the courage to keep going and live into your dreams is what matters. - Christy Wright

I want to lean in with the spirit of faith, and not pull back with a spirit of fear. - Christine Caine

And I, for one, would rather fail at something I love than succeed at something I don’t. - Mark Batterson, Whisper

I don’t want to fail by failing to try. - Unknown 

The measure of who we are is how we react to something that doesn’t go our way. - Gregg Popovich , pro basketball coach

On the other side of your fear is your freedom - Jen Sincere

Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm. - Winston Churchill

The only difference between fear and excitement is the name I give it - Unknown 

Courage is doing things even when you’re scared. Being brave isn’t something that happens when you’re not scared anymore. Brave people don’t stop hearing the whispers of fear. They hear the whispers but take action anyway. Being brave is hearing that voice of fear in your head, but saying, “Okay, but the truth is, God made me on purpose and for a purpose.” - Annie F. Downs

. . . 

Your turn . . . What's your Do It Afraid assignment?