Atlantic City's Blessing in Disguise

I was in Atlantic City, New Jersey for a photography job, right in the heart of the casino town at the "Trump Taj Mahal." Since I needed to bring camera equipment inside, I decided valet parking was a worthy expense. (And tax write-off!) I left my keys with the valet, he gave me a yellow pick up ticket and I continued to my room and the event.

My alarm went off at 5:00 AM so I could drive 40 minutes to Ocean City for the sunrise. Not being a morning person, I needed to keep telling myself "the sunrise will be worth it!" I reached in my jacket pocket to pull out my valet ticket only to realize that it wasn't there.

Instantly, I panicked and my mind went to the worst possible scenario. "I'm in a gambling town full of drunks... Some man picked up my ticket off the ground, handed it to the valet, took my car and now I am stranded. Why did I leave my passport and Credit Card in there?" Groggily, I walked down to the pick up window and explained my situation. I described my car, give them my license plate number and waited for an eternity (I glared at the clock and worried about missing the sunrise!), the man comes down and says, "I couldn't find a car like you described... I would say your Subaru is definitely silver."

I discover a meticulously clean car with a baby seat inside. Nothing like the messy car I had described, and certainly the wrong license plate number. I began to be frustrated at the workers, but mainly at myself for losing my ticket, I felt hopeless as I continued to focus on the worst of possibilities. He took a second look and delivers my vehicle. I thanked him for my car and hurried to watch the sunrise. I arrived at the beach 10 minutes after the sunrise, but ironically the fog was so dense that the sunrise was a complete whiteout.

I laughed at the situation and realized my frustration and worry was pointless. Often it is the small inconveniences and changes in plans that cause me the worst stress. How do you typically respond when a change in plans detours your life? Share an example of a blessing in disguise you've experienced.

Permission to Feel Foolish

At the beginning of the year, I set a goal to do new things. Many of my friends said this was not a challenging goal because I constantly try different activities. In a short amount of time I changed my goal to "I will participate in out of character activities." In less than 3 weeks, I've gone on a blind date, made a dentist appointment for the first time in 4 years, and attended Zumba class.

One of the high school students I work with was hosting a "zumbathon" as a fundraiser. Zumba is an exercise program in the form of Latin dance and I decided it was in alignment with my goal for 2012 to attend this activity. I warned the student "I think I'm going to DIE" and "you have no concept of how uncoordinated I am." "Did you know Several years back, I spent time with a dance team and I ended up in the emergency room from warming up with them?" "Many will claim they having two left feet, well I think I have three!" Every line I could think of ran through my brain to get out of this.

Needless to say, my roommate and I pulled into the parking lot, took a deep breath and timidly walked into the building. A man met us there and asked us if we had ever done Zumba before, we both responded with a nervous grin, "never". His response was profound, "If you think you look stupid, you're doing it right." These words said in jest to provoke a laugh or bring comfort actually were deeper than this man will ever know.

I would not consider the time a success by comparison with the other ladies participating. However, with permission to feel foolish, I enjoyed the time and remembered life is not about comparing yourself to someone else.

As I consider stretching my character in 2012, meeting new people, and standing face to face with insecurity, I am going to remember those words. "If you think you look stupid, you're doing it right."

- What do you avoid for fear of failure?

- How can you give yourself permission to feel foolish, and in turn overcome that fear?