You know how someone says something and their words just reverberate in your mind and heart for days afterward?
That’s what happened to me this past Saturday when I attended a local writer’s group. Author (and friend) Cara Putman spoke to the group via Skype and early on she said, “Let go of the fear of being wrong.”
Cara said a lot of other valuable, insightful, encouraging things, but these seven words stayed with me. I knew from the moment I wrote them down that I’d be sharing them with you all on this blog. How could I not? Yes, Cara was speaking within the context of being a writer, but this truth is applicable to everyone, even if the only thing you write is a grocery list or a monthly rent check.
Let’s face it: We’re all going to be wrong at some point. But the fear of being wrong — that can hold us back from so many things …
- from pursuing a dream
- from trying something new
- from trying again when things haven’t worked out the way we hoped
- from speaking up when everyone else is silent
- from stepping outside our comfort zone into that beautiful area where life begins
The next time fear shows up and grabs ahold of me, I need to shake off it’s grip. I need to admit that yes, I could do or say something and end up being wrong — or being perceived as wrong by someone else. But fear doesn’t get to decide what I do or do not do.
In Your Words: How do you get past the fear of being wrong?
[Tweet “In Others’ Words: Releasing Fear #InOthersWords #lifequotes #bebrave”] [Tweet “”Let go of the fear of being wrong.” via @CaraPutman #quotes #amwriting #courage”]
Comments 5
It’s easy for me to get past the fear of being wrong, because I was only wrong about something once in my life.
On that occasion, I had thought I had been mistaken about something, and it turned out that I had been right after all.
Seriously, the fear f being wrong went away when I realized that everyone else is afraid of being wrong as well, and that they weren’t paying all that much attention. I was not in The Center Of The Circle, and any idiocy I perpetrated would be quickly forgotten.
Author
Andrew: Excellent point. We are not the Center of the Circle. People aren’t paying as much attention to us as we think they are — or as we’d like them to.
They pay attention in a positive way when we youch their hearts, or illuminate the true nature of their fears in a hopeful light.
Sure, there are the trolls who will tear down anything…but no one really pays attention to them.
There is a lot of ‘positive’ in the way the world works. Folks want to look up, and to see a way to climb into the sunlight…and we, as writers, can help them.
And then, they will remember us.
Golly, I invented a word…’youch’.
Obviously it should have been ‘touch’. Sheesh.
I’m like Andrew–I’ve never been wrong either but once and that was a mistake. lol. Sometimes I should be afraid to say something with what comes out of my mouth. But then it becomes comic relief for everyone else.