Nervousness...

"Nerves and butterflies are fine - they're a physical sign that you're mentally ready and eager. You have to get the butterflies to fly in formation, that's the trick." - Steve Bull


I blog from time to time about things that strike me that may apply not only to my own journey but also hopefully to you as well. A song popped into my head as a good thing to blog about today...

Michigan native Eminem has had a reputation as a loudmouth, pottymouth, bigmouth rapper. His songs are peppered with f-bombs, degredation towards women, scenes of abuse & neglect. But there is one song in his catalog that is worth checking out. Founded as the autobiography of his rise to stardom, "Lose Yourself" is filled with honesty, pain, excitement, regret, anger, power. He relays his nervousness in performing his first gig,

"His palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy
There's vomit on his sweater already, mom's spaghetti
He's nervous, but on the surface he looks calm and ready
To drop bombs, but he keeps on forgettin'
What he wrote down, the whole crowd goes so loud
He opens his mouth, but the words won't come out
He's chokin, how everybody's jokin now
The clock's run out, time's up over, bloah!
Snap back to reality, Oh there goes gravity
Oh, there goes Rabbit, he choked
He's so mad, but he won't give up that easy, no..."

It goes on to his determination to make it out of the trailerpark and provide a better life for his family. The chorus is powerful:

"You better lose yourself in the music, the moment
You own it, you better never let it go
You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow
This opportunity comes once in a lifetime yo..."

One shot. One chance. He grabbed with both hands and ran with it. Something to think about when we are faced with a nervous situation. I used to find myself eating to assuage the butterflies. Now I am finding reflection and meditation to be the thing to calm me down. I had to use that technique last week when I spoke in front of the largest crowd I had to date. I was shaking on the inside, my palms were sweaty, I just kept reflecting on how far I had come and those people were there to hear my story - me, they came to hear me.

Once I got in front of the crowd - I was on fire. The nervousness went away and confidence returned. I owned that stage...

Worry, nervousness, fretting - three things that get us nowhere but down in the dumps. Climb out of that pit of despair and realize that we are all human.


"Any concern too small to be turned into a prayer is to small to be made into a burden."
- Corrie ten Boom, "Clippings from My Notebook"


Matty
www.iweighedmorethanjared.com