Organized_Chaos11
New Member
I got up onto the stage silently, looking out on all the faces, the eyes locked on me. I looked down on the printed passage my dad had given me. I lifted the piece of paper he had given me, and looked at the messy handwriting on the page behind it. I took the printed one, wadded it up in a ball, and threw it across the stage. Watching it skid to a stop and all the small gasps from the crowd was satisfying. I looked to the front row. There was my father, his glare trying to diminish the adrenaline and confidence I had. When it failed to work, he panicked, frantically trying to tell me to pick up the passage he had given me. I looked at the passage I had wrote, and began to read.
"Facing your fears. To explain what this means, I first need to tell you what a fear is. A fear is when you are afraid of something. Anything you are afraid of. Hesitant or resistant to do. It can be something that you just don't like doing, or maybe it's something you jump and shriek when you see it. Like spiders or snakes. When you see a snake slithering in a corner, are you afraid? Do you freeze or run away? If so, you fear snakes." I paused, breathing with anxiety. My voice wavered a bit, but I kept on going.
"Now I'll explain what it means to face something. How do you face someone? You turn from where you were looking and face the person. Usually, it's a full one eighty to face someone. So, to face something, you have to be looking the other way. You have to be looking in a totally different direction! So facing your fears means you have to stop avoiding them and face them." I stepped forward, looking deep into the eyes of my father.
"Right now, I am facing one of my fears. My fear was sharing my true opinion. Sometimes I just nod along, agreeing. I was afraid of conflict. A world without conflict is a world gone unchanged. The Wright Brothers didn't make a plane without debating and arguing with each other about how they could solve a problem. If there was no conflict, no one would have spoken up and said: 'We can do better than this. We can improve.' If we don't challenge ourselves and each other, we wouldn't have cars, electricity, phones, computers, windows, buildings, food, and so much more. Here I am, facing my fear. Thank you, and have a great day." To my complete surprise, people got up and started clapping. More and more people stood up and clapped for me, moved and impressed. Last of all, my father stood up and started clapping. I looked down upon the people who were giving me a standing ovation, and I smiled.
"Facing your fears. To explain what this means, I first need to tell you what a fear is. A fear is when you are afraid of something. Anything you are afraid of. Hesitant or resistant to do. It can be something that you just don't like doing, or maybe it's something you jump and shriek when you see it. Like spiders or snakes. When you see a snake slithering in a corner, are you afraid? Do you freeze or run away? If so, you fear snakes." I paused, breathing with anxiety. My voice wavered a bit, but I kept on going.
"Now I'll explain what it means to face something. How do you face someone? You turn from where you were looking and face the person. Usually, it's a full one eighty to face someone. So, to face something, you have to be looking the other way. You have to be looking in a totally different direction! So facing your fears means you have to stop avoiding them and face them." I stepped forward, looking deep into the eyes of my father.
"Right now, I am facing one of my fears. My fear was sharing my true opinion. Sometimes I just nod along, agreeing. I was afraid of conflict. A world without conflict is a world gone unchanged. The Wright Brothers didn't make a plane without debating and arguing with each other about how they could solve a problem. If there was no conflict, no one would have spoken up and said: 'We can do better than this. We can improve.' If we don't challenge ourselves and each other, we wouldn't have cars, electricity, phones, computers, windows, buildings, food, and so much more. Here I am, facing my fear. Thank you, and have a great day." To my complete surprise, people got up and started clapping. More and more people stood up and clapped for me, moved and impressed. Last of all, my father stood up and started clapping. I looked down upon the people who were giving me a standing ovation, and I smiled.
