I recently joined my church's band. It had been over a decade since I last played the piano for any church. I was feeling rusty to say the least! And my church's band.....is LEGIT. I'm not kidding, these people can JAM! There is so much talent up there and the worship services are incredible. Deep down inside of me, I wanted to be a part of this. But the thought of doing it, TERRIFIED me. I couldn't even imagine little ole' me up there playing the piano or keyboard in my little ole' Baptist hymn ways. I dreamt of being a part of that band for YEARS. Yes, you read it right.....YEARS. I had zero confidence that I could do it, so I sat in that pew, week after week, and watched them jam out.
This past June, I felt very compelled to finally get involved in my church that I had been attending for so long. (that's a whole other story and blog post!) So I went to the Connection Point kiosk in the church lobby and signed up for like 14 ministries. And like a crazy person, I signed up for the "worship arts team", which is the band. I had no idea what would come of it, but I did it mindlessly and quickly before I could talk myself out of it. When I received the email from the band leader wanting to schedule an AUDITION, I was totally freaked out. An audition?? I was POSITIVE I would be told in a nice church-like way, "Thank you so much for your interest, Melissa, and I see a lot of potential there, BUT why don't you head on home and keep working at it and maybe some day you can audition again when you are more ready." (Translation being: you suck and we are really good and don't want you ruining our mojo)
So, nervous as a cat, I went to the audition after having practiced my heart out for two weeks. And do you know what that man told me? "Can you start this Sunday? We really need someone in the West Auditorium." Ummmmm whaaaaaat did you say?? I was both shocked and ecstatic! I had made it! But of course, the fear didn't end there. I actually had to get up in front of that big church and PLAY!!!
Fast forward to now (6 weeks later) and I have played keyboard for two services and am playing the piano for this upcoming weekend. I still get nervous, but do you know what I've gained over the last 6 weeks?? CONFIDENCE. I actually have some glimpses of feeling confident in my God-given ability now that I have faced my fear, conquered the task, and am continuing on with doing it.
Think about it....all of those years sitting back and dreaming of some day being up there with that band didn't give me one lick of confidence. But actually DOING IT did.
That is how confidence is built. By DOING the thing that you desire or have to do, even though you may have ZERO confidence in yourself to do it. Giving that speech, playing point guard in the game, asking the boss for a raise, joining a new gym, creating healthy eating habits, applying for a new position at work, driving a car for the first time......all of these things can feel scary, intimidating, or even impossible when you are just sitting around THINKING about them. It's the act of boldly stepping forward (even if you're scared out of your mind) and just DOING IT.
What is it that you are wanting or having to do, but you have no confidence in yourself that you can do it? What have you been dreaming of or putting off for a long time out of fear? Take the Melissa Confidence Challenge and DO IT and then tell me if I'm wrong!
