rediscovering eden
Who am I, that the Lord of all the earth
Would care to know my name
Would care to feel my hurt
Who am I, that the bright and morning Star
Would choose to light the way
For my ever wandering heart
Not because of who I am
But because of what You've done
Not because of what I've done
But because of who You are
I am a flower quickly fading
Here today and gone tomorrow
A wave tossed in the ocean
A vapor in the wind
Still You hear me when I'm calling
Lord, You catch me when I'm falling
And You've told me who I am
I am Yours, I am Yours
Who Am I, that the eyes that see my sin
Would look on me with love
and watch me rise again
Who Am I, that the voice that calmed the sea
Would call out through the rain
And calm the storm in me
whom shall i fear
whom shall i fear
i am yours
dailies
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
-8:47 PM
As you can tell, I have been getting an awful (yes, awful!) lot of homework these past few days. *sigh* and yet another...
Royal Canadian Legion Speech Contest
Many times, opportunities come knocking on our door. But because we’re sometimes too engrossed in something else , or we’re too lazy to go open the door, we miss the opportunities. But a big reason for these missed opportunities is that we are too scared to open that door.
Because when we do that, we’re opening ourselves to other people’s judgements. We are allowing ourselves to be subject to their criticisms. No one wants to make themselves a sitting target knowing that there is a possibility of being shot at with darts.
It’s always that fear that holds us back, from doing what we want to do, from pursuing our dreams. So instead, we stay in that safe protected spot, that comfort zone, not going forward, but not going backward either. We’re too scared of trying, and having the result turn out really bad, and then having people jeer at us . Ever hear people say in defence: “Oh, I wasn’t even trying!”
Just yesterday, I faced one of those scary situations.
Four days prior to the junior provincial debate, my older sister asked me to participate as she was asked by her teacher to represent the school. However, her usual partner is in Grade 10 and did not qualify as junior provincial is restricted to students in Grade 6, 7, 8 and 9. She needed to find a new partner. The challenge was thrown to me.
I didn’t have any formal debate experience, and was completely new to the entire thing. Why ask me? Was it because my mom said I was good at arguing? My sister saw me holding my ground and defending my position frequently with my parents. Well, needless to say, it was a challenging prospect. I would be surrounded by private school students better and more experienced than I. What reason did I have not to feel inferior? It would be so much easier to say no.
However, I accepted, so as to not let my sister down, but thoughts kept on running through my mind. How would I get up to speed in such a short time? I had never done any debates before and you want me to go to the provincials? What if I go and totally embarrass myself?
[lessons learnt etc.]
But the journey’s not over yet. There is still much to learn, and much to overcome.
Even now as I speak, all these doubts and fears are rising up in me. What if I’m not speaking loud enough? What if I freeze? What if I’m not making enough eye contact? What if?...and on and on.
I have two choices. I can give into my fears and recoil back into my comfort zone. Or I can take the chance and go out boldly against my fears. I stand there, undecided. Now is the time to overcome my fears otherwise they will forever be strapping me down. A quote by Michael Jordan comes into mind. “I can accept failure. Everyone fails at something. But I cannot accept not trying.” Do I want to depart from here regretting that I never even tried, or knowing that I tried and failed? I ask myself silently. This is my time to know that I can conquer my fears and accomplish thing I never dreamed of. So I force my fears down and stand up and continue to speak, as I am doing this very moment.
Fears keep you from reaching higher. And if you never reach higher, you’ll never go higher.
This quote by Karen Ravn sums it all up. “Only as high as I reach can I grow, only as far as I seek can I go, only as deep as I look can I see, only as much as I dream can I be.”
So I’ve decided I am going to take a chance and reach.
