Well this Presidential Election is quite the nail biter, now isn’t it???
We all knew this year’s election was going to be interesting, but it looks like we’re in for something on an entirely different level…like results getting drawn out for days or weeks, heck, maybe even months!!! But, come on, people! Why would we expect anything else? It is 2020, after all!
All this election talk got me thinking about my days serving as an elected official…
Yep, that’s right. Elected fair and square as Class President of my 11th grade class. I ran for re-election in my senior year, but also fair and square, I was booted from my position. Don’t worry-there was a peaceful transfer of power, no biting of nails required there.
Yes, I kid about the seriousness of my leadership role in high school vs the leadership of our nation, but please don’t take this the wrong way…I only bring this up because I like sharing stories with ya’ll. So, if you’re feeling the same way as I am (tired of watching the same news story for hours on end and are feeling up for a little light-hearted distraction), come with me! I’ll walk you down memory lane, back to the year 2000:
It was around January/February of my Sophomore year. I was in a class called World Literature. It was a unique class for my traditional high school curriculum. It was History and English combined, designed for kids to learn both subjects simultaneously. The length of the class was doubled, so it was especially grueling. I remember sitting at my desk, miserable, thinking how slow time was passing; wondering how I would ever get through this school year. This mindset was, and still is atypical for me. I can usually grind it out, get the tasks accomplished without getting stuck in the mud so much. But there was something about this class that sucked the life out of me.
That was just ONE reason why I was completely caught off guard when my teacher pulled me aside to ask if I had considered running for next year’s Class President. I probably choked on my own spit I was so surprised. I could have sworn I didn’t hear her correctly.
“Uhhhhhh…………………..what???”
“I think you would be great in that role.
You should really consider it.”
“Me? Seriously? ME??? Why?”
“Yes, YOU. You should think about it.
I think you would be great. Just consider it, please.”
She walked away before I could ask her 400 more times “Me???”
And I probably would have. The questions swirled inside my head.
What is she smokin? Tanya for Class President? Can you imagine? What do I know? Who would listen to me? Do I even have the guts to speak in front of the whole class? Who am I to put myself out there and run for office? What will everyone say behind my back?
But then a thought popped into mind; one that sounded different than all that negative self-talk:
What is it she sees in me?
And then almost immediately, my perspective flipped.
Why not? Who else? What if I never tried? What’s the worst that could happen?
And I so I decided to run. I put myself out there. I brainstormed ways to improve the high school experience. I wrote a speech and held a microphone. My hands trembled at first, but my voice grew stronger as I realized people were ACTUALLY listening. And then it became simple. All of us are scared sometimes. All of us have some level of trepidation about trying something new. In that moment, I realized it wasn’t that I wasn’t scared…I was just a tiny bit braver than the other kids. It was the first time I worried less about failure and more about living with the “what if I never tried?”.
And to my amazement, I WON! Who’da thunk it???
It’s so strange for me to think back about this time in my life. I don’t think about it often, really never, to be honest. But it’s refreshing and it still surprises me when I think back. Up until then, I never considered myself brave or confident; but all it took was one little push from a caring teacher to make me look at myself in a different light and stop cutting myself short at every turn.
Confidence is a strange thing really. Some people feel you either have it or you don’t. We are either born with it or we weren’t. But I don’t see it that way.
Confidence is an underlying current within us all. It’s not the raging bonfire, but rather it’s the bed of fiery coals that needs a little stoking from time to time.
It’s not a promise of good fortune or prosperity; rather it’s a belief and sense of security of knowing that even if things don’t turn out the way you planned, you will survive, you’ll figure it out, you got this.
So, if you’re feeling extra stressed during these uncertain times, I hope this email will serve as reminder that you aren’t alone. Most of us are feeling a bit scared, and that’s ok. We will get through this-we’re going to keep on keeping on! What else is there to do in a year like 2020??
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