I'm introverted by design. As a teenager, I joined Toastmasters to help overcome my shyness - and after years of public speaking (and a whole heap of hand-sweating, stomach swirling, and heart racing..!) I achieved their highest award - the Distinguished Toastmaster :)
Are you afraid of public speaking? Any Toastmasters passing through?
I'm also afraid of whales*... but I won't be facing that fear any time soon...
(*I know, it sounds weird, but look into their eyes! See them leap onto the land trying to hunt me down! Shudder.)
Do you have a weird fear? Are you facing it?
Keep kicking ass!
I'm afraid of sharks. I don't live anywhere near the ocean. They freak me out. BUT, I do find myself watching shark week. Go figure. I'm also afraid of crickets and grasshoppers. Lame I know, but they could jump on me!! Stupid childhood memories that scarred me for life...
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid of plants. Ok, I am not actually scared of them, but lots of them really creep me out! I was recently in Hawaii, and it reminded me of how strange some tropical plants are!
ReplyDeleteI deliberately took a job that involved public speaking, even though I had a fear of it. It's not that I was a bad speaker, it's that I got these random bouts of uncontrollable voice shaking. I wouldn't pause or stop talking, but my voice would be shaking the whole time. It was really embarrassing. People who said it would get better with time were wrong. In my case, practice did not make the shake go away. That's why I talk on the internet now :)
ReplyDeleteI have a fear of stairs. I will go up and down them, but I don't like them very much. I've even sat down and gone down some of them because they scared me so much. It's weird, I know.
ReplyDelete@Chatelle - You are brave to watch shark week! Eeee. I can't even look at whales on TV :( And I don't think it's lame at all to be scared of jumping (and non-jumping..!) insects - I'm sure I've seen grown men squealing on AFV over insects :)
ReplyDelete@Steph - It's a thin line between being creeped out and being scared! (And I totally get it - some plants look more like spiders than spiders do!)
@Jess - Whoa! You were so brave to take the job - and super brave to stay longer than 5 minutes! I think sometimes you've got to trust your body, and being happy is way more important than pushing through! YAY for the internet :):):)
@Cherie - It must be really hard having a fear of something that is such a big part of everyday life :( Much harder to avoid than whales!!!
Wow, thanks for sharing everyone!
I've never heard of toastmasters. I must look it up because I am a super shy person. Not one of those people that like being the center of attention. But other than my fear of people:), I'm not a fan of anything with a beak. And bats. *shiver*
ReplyDelete@Ruth – Beaks and bats, eeeeee! (Wait, does that count octopus?) And I can’t recommend Toastmasters enough, so many cool, kind and supportive people :)
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