It was just moments before my part in the show was about to start. My part was predicted to last an entire two minutes. The time before waiting for my chance to perform would feel like two hours. Eventually, my time to shine arrived. The music played, the light was on us, and I felt ready. The time to act was now.
Let me back up a bit
At our university, there’s an annual Indian culture event called Jashan that’s run by SASA (the South Asian Students Association). And every year, the members of the association serve Indian food and perform in front of a live audience. As expected, the food is good, and the dance numbers are awesome. I already knew that it would be a crime for me NOT to go.
The dilemma
Unfortunately, the show cost $12. Twelve whole dollars. Me being the frugal guy I am, didn’t want to pay twelve dollars to eat a limited amount of food and sit in a stuffy auditorium for three hours. I asked my good friend who’s performing in the show to get me in for free, but it couldn’t be helped. EVERYONE had to pay to get in. It seemed that all hope was lost. But then…
The phone call that changed my life
It was about noon or so when my friend called me up to offer me a deal. The conversation went a bit like this:
Friend: Hey, you still want to grab a free dinner.
Me: Free dinner? Yeah, definitely.
F: Great…but you have to do me a favor.
Me (skeptically as always when favors are asked of me): What is it?
F: You have to carry this girl shirtless on the day of the show.
Me: Hahaha… Sure, fine, I’ll do it.
Ah, yes. I’m quite impulsive when it comes to free stuff – especially when it involves getting a free meal just for carrying a girl with my shirt off for five minutes.
This aren’t always as they seem
I didn’t think about it at the time, but I was pretty scared of being shirtless in front of a massive crowd. When I got to rehearsal, my confidence quickly turned to nervousness. Oddly enough, the nervousness itself then led to more nervousness. How would I fix this issue before the day of the show?
Coming around full circle
It seemed that my “just do it” attitude hadn’t served me in the most comforting of ways. The act of “just doing it” seems to leave out the fact that people have hesitation that sometimes cripples their actions. If I was going to get the confidence to walk tall and shirtless amidst hundreds of viewers, I had to be ready. And, most importantly, I had to tame my fear.
Here are some things I did to help ease both my body and mind before opening night:
1. I rehearsed
To conquer your fears, you must prepare even though you think what you’re about to do will be a piece of cake. Like I said, carrying a girl is easy, but it was the exposure to the audience that I was worried about. So, as with anything worth rehearsing for, I practiced. I got familiar with the entire layout of the place. The stage, the seats, the “understage” (as I like to deem the underground backstage); I knew where everything was like the back of my hand. I got comfortable with where I would be walking as well: didn’t want to trip on anything on my way to the stage.
2. I had prior experience being shirtless
By this I mean, I had experiences being shirtless in front of a crowd. Swimming pools, locker rooms, and water parks gave me the confidence needed to pull of this act. Okay, maybe these experiences weren’t that important, but I could’ve been more scared if they hadn’t happened, right? When it comes to conquering your fears, every little experience you have with it counts. Don’t minimize the impact of what a small amount of exposure can do.
3. Finally, I just did it
Understand that “just doing it” came in at the end of the preparation process. But even with those rehearsals and practices behind me, I found myself still a bit wary on the night of the show. I didn’t get it. Five minutes before we were on, I stood there racking my brain, accruing adrenaline while I asked myself repeatedly, “Why do I even care? Let’s do this.”
Suddenly, the music started to play. We were on. Instantly I was in a trance. Not even hearing the audience, but only internalizing the calming music. I was invincible. I was unstoppable. I…was shirtless guy number 1!
Here’s a picture of my very tiny part in the Indian culture show (lower right). As you can see, my back’s turned.
If you liked this post, share it on Twitter, StumbleUpon, or Facebook. It’ll do the both of us a world of good. Don’t forget to connect with me on Twitter.
Want more articles like this one? Subscribe for FREE email notifications. And hey! What are you waiting for? **Join my Facebook group!**
). Though watching cartoons may seem childish to the majority of us, no one can deny that they are still exceptionally funny. If you think yourself too mature to watch cartoons, view them with your kids or a younger sibling.
