Not letting fear lead your choices

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I've never enjoyed public speaking. I hate talking to people in general most of the time let alone a big group of people. I remember in high school I decided I needed to face my fear of public speaking and really put myself out there. I took an acting and directing class. I loved it. I mean I was absolutely terrible at acting but I enjoyed it. I loved hanging out with all of these amazing people. I even did a play which once again I was terrible but I still had a lot of fun. I still hate public speaking and will continue to avoid it like the plague but I learned that sometimes confronting your fears can still lead to good things. When you let your fears hold you back you end up missing out on a lot of things. I have never liked change and I hate having to adapt to situations but the truth is I almost always do adapt. I learn to accept things but sometimes it takes a little longer than I'd like. The way I see it is those times I did things despite how afraid I was they led me to greater things. If I didn't rise above the fears I had I never would have found the happiness I found in those situations. When I took that acting and directing class I had a lot of fun and later when I went to a vocational school leaving my traditional high school I found something else I really enjoyed. I was terrified to start working again after spending so many years as a stay-at-home mom but I found a job I really love. Each year I'm terrified to move up with my buddy because I don't know the teacher I'll be working with but each year I seem to love that teacher just as much as the ones before. Sometimes fear keeps you from doing things that could lead to something greater. I remind myself of that every time I have to deal with yet another big change. My son was forced to take a communications class this year and he hates public speaking about as much as I did and he has found he really enjoys this class. The irony is his teacher is the same teacher I had for Acting and Directing. I knew he'd like her. He claims she still remembers me but I have my doubts. I wasn't exactly super involved with drama I just took the one class and did one play and after that year I pretty much walked away from it all. I feel like she is probably being polite but I can't prove it. My son has also been talking about going to the same vocational school I went to (it's a much nicer building now than when I went) and he is afraid of leaving behind everything and everyone he knows to go to this school. I told him he'd probably have some friends that decided to go too and he'd make new friends. I also told him that he would always be part of his home school he'd still get to go to his home school's events and he'd graduate from his home school but he wouldn't be taking classes there anymore. He hates change about as much as I did but I told him to not let fear be the thing that made him not do something he wanted to do. I told him of my experiences and it seemed to make him feel better. I do like that I'm able to relate to a lot of what he is going through. I know what it's like having to leave things behind. He does have a little more at stake than I did. I was dealing with a lot of social issues the year before I decided to go to the vocational school and only had a handful of friends I was truly close to and they were also going to the vocational school. By going to the new school I was saying goodbye to a lot of things I need a break from and I had known I was going to go to this school since seventh grade which is now the grade my son is in. My son has a much greater social circle than I did. Everyone seems to love him. He is way more outgoing than I ever was and makes friends easily. I was not quite as fortunate. My son has just enough of both mine and my husband's personality types to give him a nice mix. He has my calm nature and his dad's outgoing personality. My husband had a temper in high school that drew people away from him once they knew him and I struggled to meet new people due to my quiet nature. My son has them both and has a lot of friends so he will be giving up more than I did. I just told him to do what he wants to do and don't let fear be the deciding factor. I told him I'm proud of him no matter what he decides to do but that he needs to make his decision based on what he really wants and not based on fear. He's really thinking about his future lately and I want him to think about every angle. I don't want him doing a job he hates later. I told him it's ok to do a job to make money and not because he loves it but if he finds a job he loves he'll be more likely to enjoy it and stay with it.