Biggest fears hold us back

Believe it or not, my biggest fear was never of dying, but of public speaking. This may sound absurd, but I know for a fact it is many people's biggest fear; to stand up in front of an audience, all eyes and ears upon you. When my book "Parkinson's, Shaken, Not Stirred" was first published, such interest was shown, that as an author, I found writing and public speaking suddenly went hand in hand. Left with no choice other than to dive straight in at the deep end, I began taking on public speaking engagements. I have to add at this point, that I received some extremely helpful advice regarding public speaking from a lovely lady who lectures all around the world. I listened and took in every word of guidance she gave me which was of enormous help. Her husband is a published poet and screenwriter, and he gave me the confidence and tools to move forward with my book. Although I have already thanked them both for the wonderful encouragement, support and instruction, I would like to publicly say THANK YOU, for in a way, you are both responsible for this amazing journey I find myself on.

I received such an incredible response to my book, a collection of poems written from personal experience, I thought to myself, I have nothing to lose talking in front of an audience, since I would be talking about a subject, that let's face it, I know intimately well: living with chronic illness. I expected to be nervous the first time I spoke in public a few years ago, but strangely I wasn't, for I was so focused on getting my message across, I forcefully cast fear aside, calmly stood up and told my story to a hushed audience. Since then, I've spoken many times, to various audiences at home and abroad, and as with anything in life, the more you do something, the better you become. It is almost second nature now and I've gone from strength to strength. Getting over my fears and being the best I can be has pushed me to do things I would never have dreamt of doing. Fear holds so many of us back in various ways during our  life. Don't let fear of the unknown or something new dictate your future. You can be so much more if only you allow yourself to have faith in your abilities and bravely take that step forward.