Adventure Rag

Today was an adventure. I had the privilege of giving a presentation to a group of my writing peers. It was the first time I had ever done a professional presentation and I have to say, I was nervous.

I was nervous enough that it seemed like everything was a bad omen. Traffic and weather were snarky on the way to Bradenton from my home. I missed the welcome dinner. I realized I didn’t know what time they needed me to show up for my collateral duty on the first morning of the conference. There was no screen to show my presentation on. I thought I’d left the extension cord in my hotel room and there wasn’t time to retrieve it. I had never done the presentation in front of a live audience before. There were elements of it that I was not at all sure were going to work.

However…

I made it through the traffic and weather unscathed – ie: I saw the aftermath of two accidents but was involved in neither. The dinner was pizza, which as it turns out, is good cold. I found out what time I needed to arrive for the collateral duty and performed it well. I found a white board that worked well as a screen for the presentation. I found the extension cord. The presentation went well…everything worked.

My point…

If I had listened to my nerves, I would have been hiding under the pillows instead of teaching my class. As it was, I put the nerves aside and low and behold, success took their place. All it took for that to happen was perseverance and a change in perspective.

What’s your next adventure and what will it take to make it happen?