Things I Can Do Now I Couldn't Do When I Was Younger
After complaining about getting old in yesterday's blog, I figured today I'd talk about what I've learned over the years.
In my twenties and thirties I was introverted. Most people who know me now find that hard to believe.
Oh, I could always figure out ways to do things I wanted to do, but when I was elected PTA president for my kids' grammar school the first time, I truly wondered how on earth I could get up in front of all those people and run the meeting. (Back in those days lots of people attended PTA meetings.) I struggled through that presidency and another, then was elected to the PTA for the Junior High, I was even more afraid because a lot more people attended those meetings. The wonderful woman I took over from told me, "No one wants to be up there doing what you will be doing. Remember that." I did and it worked.
Since that time I've spoken in front of all sorts of groups without fear. What I learned was that as long as I really knew what I was talking about everything would go fine.
Another fear that I got over was driving. My husband was gone a lot when the kids were growing up so I had to drive everywhere. I was scared to drive to L.A. where my folks lived, but the only way to get there was for me to take the wheel. I started out driving there by leaving at 3 a.m. in the morning when there wasn't as much traffic. My confidence built in my driving ability and soon I was going all over the place.
Kids grown and living in a new place, it wasn't long before I was taking long driving trips and I knew I could drive as well as the next guy and better than a lot of them.
Over the years I've tackled all sorts of big jobs and succeeded. The more I did, the more capable and confident I became.
I suspect what this all boils down to is my advice to others is don't think you can't do something until you try, you will probably be surprised.
Marilyn
http://fictionforyou.com
In my twenties and thirties I was introverted. Most people who know me now find that hard to believe.
Oh, I could always figure out ways to do things I wanted to do, but when I was elected PTA president for my kids' grammar school the first time, I truly wondered how on earth I could get up in front of all those people and run the meeting. (Back in those days lots of people attended PTA meetings.) I struggled through that presidency and another, then was elected to the PTA for the Junior High, I was even more afraid because a lot more people attended those meetings. The wonderful woman I took over from told me, "No one wants to be up there doing what you will be doing. Remember that." I did and it worked.
Since that time I've spoken in front of all sorts of groups without fear. What I learned was that as long as I really knew what I was talking about everything would go fine.
Another fear that I got over was driving. My husband was gone a lot when the kids were growing up so I had to drive everywhere. I was scared to drive to L.A. where my folks lived, but the only way to get there was for me to take the wheel. I started out driving there by leaving at 3 a.m. in the morning when there wasn't as much traffic. My confidence built in my driving ability and soon I was going all over the place.
Kids grown and living in a new place, it wasn't long before I was taking long driving trips and I knew I could drive as well as the next guy and better than a lot of them.
Over the years I've tackled all sorts of big jobs and succeeded. The more I did, the more capable and confident I became.
I suspect what this all boils down to is my advice to others is don't think you can't do something until you try, you will probably be surprised.
Marilyn
http://fictionforyou.com
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