As students came in one at a time to speak, I could sense the nervousness in most of them—and it was much greater than the slight nervousness I felt. Some were visibly shaking, while others exhibited a lot of nervous energy by moving around a lot, and still others expressed their nerves through speaking very quickly! Seeing these nervous kids brought me back to my teenage years as I often competed in singing and speaking events. I can recall that almost crippling nervousness that tenses up every muscle in my body. It made me want to stop these students, tell them to take a deep breath, and assure them that it was going to be okay. Unfortunately, as a judge, I wasn’t supposed to offer any instruction to them, only score them on how well they did.
Now, speaking for a few minutes rarely causes me nerves, but I’m glad I had this reminder of how it used to be. It makes me look around at people and wonder what is causing them stress and fear. Maybe it’s something that doesn’t bother me because I’ve been able to get past that particular fear, while my stress is caused by something completely different.
I hope you’ll join me in trying to be patient with other people as they work through their own unique brand of stress and fear. Be encouraging as they learn to overcome it, and never belittle the battle they’re going through. I hope others are patient with me as I go through my battles!