How did we become so insecure?

I always wanted to learn to play the guitar. Singing I got down pat!

Growing up I was always told that I could do anything I set my mind to. I had wonderful parents who encouraged my siblings and I to reach beyond the expectations and face our dreams head first.

Personally, I wanted to be everything. A truck driver so that I could see the country, an archeologist because history fascinates me, a Hospice nurse because the one who came into our lives when my father was dying from cancer was a God send. A social worker to be a beacon in some child’s life, and a teacher to encourage children that you never stop learning.

My personal favorite however, the announcer at the Grand Ol’ Opry. Now go ahead and laugh, I do, but when I was little we would watch the Opry on TV and I would tell my Daddy that I was going to be standing on that stage one of these days. I would announce the latest country stars and sometimes even get to sing on the stage, maybe even with Loretta Lynn!

What happened to going out and chasing those dreams? Why did I stop dreaming I could do more and be more?

We are encouraged since birth by our parents and those who surround us to be the best that we can be. They drill it into our minds that we can do anything possible, but some how, doubt creeps into our lives and we begin to other think and criticize ourselves.

Why?

Why have we become our own worst enemy? Who brought that spark of doubt into our lives and made us believe that nothing is possible?

Are we to work meaningless jobs because we are afraid to go out and pursue the one career that we know we would enjoy doing?  Because we are different than others in looks, race, height, weight,  we can’t accomplish unimaginable things?

I’ve believed that about myself for years now, and as I’ve gotten older, those insecurities have brought me nothing but regret.

I should have become an archeologist who discovered a long lost piece of history. A nurse who was the pillar when a family lost a precious loved one. The social worker, who helped a child and let them know that someone cared. The teacher who brought joy and laughter into learning and encouraged children to follow their dreams.

 I battle my insecurities on a daily basis, but I’m learning how to push away some of that doubt. Maybe one of these days, I’ll be able to accomplish the impossible without the insecurities and the fear of doubt holding me back.

As for being that announcer at the Grand Ol’ Opry… A few years ago my husband Tim and I visited the Rhyman Auditorium and I held back from the tour. I stood on an old piece of the original Opry stage and with head held high (and in an extremely quiet voice) I said, “Welcome to the Grand Ol’ Opry… let ‘er go boys……”